Joseph Julien Casimir Mange, known as José Mange (10 October 1866,

Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...

– 7 January 1935, Toulon) was a French

Impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

landscape painter and

Occitan Occitan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain. * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France. * Occitan language, spoken in parts o ...

poet who was a member of the

Félibrige The ''Félibrige'' (; in classical Occitan, in Mistralian spelling, ) is a literary and cultural association founded in 1854 by Frédéric Mistral and other Provençal writers to defend and promote the Occitan language (also called the ) and ...

Biography

From 1876 to 1886, he was a student at the Catholic College of

Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence, or simply Aix, is a List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, city and Communes of France, commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. A former capital of Provence, it is the Subprefectures in France, s ...

, where he met

Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter whose work introduced new modes of representation, influenced avant-garde artistic movements of the early 20th century a ...

during a visit to the

Musée Granet The Musée Granet is a museum in the quartier Mazarin, Aix-en-Provence, France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French G ...

and decided to take up art. Accordingly, he moved to Paris, taking lessons from

Jean-Paul Laurens Jean-Paul Laurens (; 28 March 1838 – 23 March 1921) was a romanticism French painter and sculptor, and he is one of the last major exponents of the French Academic style. Biography Laurens was born in Fourquevaux and was a pupil of Léon ...

and Benjamin-Constant. While there, he met with old friends from College at the

Café Procope The Café Procope (), also known as Le Procope (), on the Rue de l'Ancienne Comédie, is a café in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. The original café was opened in 1686 by the Sicilian chef Procopio Cutò (also known by his Italian name Franc ...

and their mutual admiration for

Frédéric Mistral Joseph Étienne Frédéric Mistral (; , 8 September 1830 – 25 March 1914) was an Occitan writer and lexicographer of the Provençal form of the language. He received the 1904 Nobel Prize in Literature "in recognition of the fresh origina ...

led him to join the Parisian branch of the Félibrige. In 1892, together with

Charles Maurras Charles-Marie-Photius Maurras (; ; 20 April 1868 – 16 November 1952) was a French author, politician, poet and critic. He was an organiser and principal philosopher of ''Action Française'', a political movement that was monarchist, corporatis ...

, he founded the "Escolo Parisienco", devoted to assisting young people from Occitania who had left their families to seek fame and fortune in Paris. The following year, he had his first showing at the "Salon des Indépendants" and, in 1894, set up his first small studio with a friend. In 1900, after a successful show at the Salon d'automne, he returned to Toulon, but continued to participate in exhibitions in Paris. In 1902, at the first "Salon des Amis des Arts", he withdrew his works in protest over the poor display that was given to his old mentor Cézanne. In 1905, his parents bought him an old photography shop for use as a studio. By 1917, now married, he was able to move into larger quarters and, three years later, had become successful enough to lease two workshops. In 1926, he made an extended visit to

Serres Serres ( ) is a city in Macedonia, Greece, capital of the Serres regional unit and second largest city in the region of Central Macedonia, after Thessaloniki. Serres is one of the administrative and economic centers of Northern Greece. The c ...

Hautes-Alpes Hautes-Alpes (; ; ) is a Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of Southeastern France. It is located in the heart of the French Alps, after which it is named. Hautes-Alpes had a population ...

, where he produced a popular series of watercolors. In 1929, he briefly returned to Paris to do some

cityscape In the visual arts, a cityscape (urban landscape) is an artistic representation, such as a painting, drawing, print or photograph, of the physical aspects of a city or urban area. It is the urban equivalent of a landscape. ''Townscape'' is ...

s. During the last years of his life, he struck up a friendship with

Georges Bernanos Louis Émile Clément Georges Bernanos (; 20 February 1888 – 5 July 1948) was a French author, and a soldier in World War I. A Catholic with monarchist leanings, he was critical of elitist thought and was opposed to what he identified as d ...

and they dedicated several books to one another.

Writings

* ''Choix de Poèmes José Mange'', Ed. Facettes 1935 (introduction by the poet )

External links

Site José Mange
by Alain Canal; an extensive collection of photographs, biographies and drawings, as well as a selection of Mange's poems.
Arcadja Auctions: More works by Mange
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mange, Jose 1866 births 1935 deaths French Impressionist painters Writers from Toulon 19th-century French painters French male painters 20th-century French painters 20th-century French male artists Artists from Toulon Painters from Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur 19th-century French male artists

Biography

Writings

Further reading

External links