Janssaud, Mathurin

Mathurin Janssaud was born at Manosque in 1857 and passed away 1940   

Little is known of his early life. Before the First World War he abandoned his native Provence and set out to build a career as an artist. Like many artists before him, he found his way to Paris where he lived and worked. In time however he became attracted by the changing skies of Brittany and the fame of Concarneau. It was here that he found his primary source of inspiration in the everyday life of the region. Janssaud sought to capture both the colour of Brittany and the life and soul of its people. The region provided abundant material for an artist in pursuit of picturesque genre scenes and rural types. The ocean, sunsets, stormy skies, fishing boats and bustling women at the market place, all constituted potential subjects for his artistry.
He chose to work mainly in pastel, which he used to reflect the translucency of the atmosphere and the variations of the Breton sky. Having established himself in Brittany, Janssaud found the portrayal of local life irresistible. He focused on scenes around the market places and busy harbour views. In his book on the artists of Concarneau, Henri Belbeoch comments; “Janssaud’s portrayal of women in their hitched-up skirts, seeking coolness under the stormy sky, demonstrates a certain realism that distinguishes his work from other pastoral scenes favoured by his bourgeois audience. Janssaud gave his public that which he liked to paint.”