City Hall

The gallery's
opinion

This card by Amandine Maria, “City hall”, in Marseille, presents one of the emblematic monuments of the Phocaean city. Classified as a historical monument, in the heart of the Old Port, the building seems to have a lucky star. Suspected to have been the den of the partisans of the royal monarchy, it escaped demolition. It also survived in 1943, during the bombing of the district under the German occupation.

The artist’s drawing presents in detail the façade of the Puget Pavilion and its balcony on the port. The old inhabitants of Marseilles know the building as “la loge”, derived from the Italian “loggia”. Indeed it owes much to the Genoese palaces of the time.

One is fascinated by the architectural reality transcribed in ink and watercolor. Windows, moldings, details of doors and roofs do not lack poetry either.

Finally, we take the time to read the notes written by the artist to restore the nature of the site and the atmosphere of the walk: “air in the lodge”, “from here we see the sea” …

The choice of ink and watercolor paint contributes to the delicacy and meticulousness of the drawing, simultaneously realistic and poetic.

With “City hall” we discover Marseille differently, through the eyes of an artist who walks, generous with details