75 - Christo Charpides, View of Martigues - ‘Miroir aux Oiseaux’ / Southern France, oil painting c. 1940, framed

Christo Charpides, View of Martigues - ‘Miroir aux Oiseaux’ / Southern France, oil painting c. 1940, framed Christo (Christophe) Charpides), 1902/09 Samos - 1992 Paris, Greek-French painter, shown here: Colourful fishermen’s cottages with boats in Martigues (a picturesque southern French port town in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, also known as the ‘Venice of Provence’ (La Venise Provençale) due to its idyllic canals, bridges and colourful house facades). The ‘Miroir aux Oiseaux’ (Bird Mirror) is arguably the best-known and most photographed spot in Martigues. A stretch of canal lined with colourful fishermen’s cottages in the Île district, which has always attracted famous painters, as in this case; oil on canvas, 55 x 90 cm, in its original frame (87 x 105 cm) About the artist: Born on the Greek island of Samos, Christo Charpides moved to the French art capital of Paris in the 1930s, where he settled in the famous Montmartre district, very close to the legendary artists’ studio, the Bateau-Lavoir. Charpides married the daughter of the well-known French landscape painter Henri-Jacques Delpy, which allowed him to cultivate a deep connection with the French painting tradition. Between 1939 and 1943, he regularly exhibited his works at the renowned Salon des Artistes Indépendants in Paris. Charpides’ oil paintings and watercolours are characterised by a lively, Impressionist brushstroke. His favourite subjects included Parisian street scenes and urban architecture, coastal landscapes of the French Riviera and Brittany, harbour scenes featuring boats and a maritime atmosphere, as well as Greek landscapes that reflect his Mediterranean heritage.