Étienne Martin: portrait of a landscape painter (1856-1945) & The Digne area: two thousand years of history

DVD / Étienne Martin, portrait d’un paysagiste (1856-1945) & Le pays dignois, deux mille ans d’histoire
[Étienne Martin: portrait of a landscape painter (1856-1945) & The Digne area: two thousand years of history]

 

Author: Two films by Jacques Mény
Year: 2004
Publisher: On line Productions / Musée Gassendi / Conseil Général des Alpes de Haute-Provence / DRAC Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur
Publication in French / video DVD / Pal / stereo / total length 52 mins
Price: €10.00

These two films, on view in the rooms of the Musée Gassendi, are available for sale.
Étienne Martin, portrait d’un paysagiste [portrait of a landscape painter] (1856-1945)
Who is Étienne Martin? His biography shows the image of a man whose life was organised around two centres of activity: painting, by which he earned his living throughout his life, with his involvement in the cultural and artistic life of Marseille, where he lived for a large part of the year; and the continuation of the work of his father Paul, as founder and promoter of the Digne museum. He was the museum’s curator from 1905 until his death in 1945. He sank all his fortune into this adventure.
Therefore he divided his life between Digne and Marseille, with stagecoach journeys that were the subject of many stories, impressions of journeys dotted with comments and colourful encounters. Born in the middle of the 19th century (1856) into a bourgeois circle very influenced by miserabilist ideology, he was also a ”man of letters” and, in his writings, we can see his personality, his tastes, his preferences and his disillusionments.
This film is both a journey in time and in the landscapes of Haute-Provence, an evocation of the traditional rural life of which Étienne Martin extols the humble simplicity.
Through his paintings and his writings, this artist, who was typical of his time and his social milieu, tells us of his personal journey marked by the regionalist preoccupations and the aspirations of Provençal thinkers at a turning point in their history.
Film made by Jacques Mény in 2001 – with the voice of Paul Crauchet – 32 mins – 2001
Le pays dignois, deux mille ans d’histoire [The Digne area, two thousand years of history]
The history of the Digne area, through the Musée Gassendi’s collections, landscapes, historic buildings and monuments, and archaeological treasures.
Film made by Jacques Mény in 2001 – with the voice of Marina Moncade – 20 mins – 2003
Publication in French / video DVD / Pal / stereo / total length 52 mins