Marie Joseph Jean Raymond Silbert, known as José Silbert (20 January 1862,

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 ...

- 1 July 1936,

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

) was a French Orientalist painter.

Biography

His father, Sébastien Pierre Antoine Silbert (1820–1895), was a doctor. He received his first painting lessons locally from Jean Baptiste Martin (1818–1901). He then moved to Paris and enrolled at the

Académie des Beaux-Arts The (; ) is a French learned society based in Paris. It is one of the five academies of the . The current president of the academy (2021) is Alain-Charles Perrot, a French architect. Background The academy was created in 1816 in Paris as a me ...

, where he studied with

Jules-Joseph Lefebvre Jules Joseph Lefebvre (; 14 March 183624 February 1911) was a French painter, educator and theorist. Early life Lefebvre was born in Tournan-en-Brie, Seine-et-Marne, on 14 March 1836. He entered the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Art ...

and

Luc-Olivier Merson Luc-Olivier Merson (21 May 1846 - 13 November 1920) was a French academic painter and illustrator. He was also known for his postage stamp and currency designs. Biography Born Nicolas Luc-Olivier Merson in Paris, France, he grew up in an arti ...

Malerei studierte. He made his debut at the

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in 1884, with a scene from the life of

Saint Marinus Marinus (; ) was an Early Christian and the founder of a chapel and monastery in 301 from whose initial community the state of San Marino later grew. Life Tradition holds that he was a stonemason by trade who came from the island of Arba (toda ...

. In 1885, he displayed a portrait of his father and, in 1887, a portrayal of

Francis of Assisi Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone ( 1181 – 3 October 1226), known as Francis of Assisi, was an Italians, Italian Mysticism, mystic, poet and Friar, Catholic friar who founded the religious order of the Franciscans. Inspired to lead a Chris ...

with the

Wolf of Gubbio The Wolf of Gubbio was a wolf who, according to the ''Little Flowers of St. Francis'', terrorized the Umbrian city of Gubbio until he was tamed by Francis of Assisi acting on behalf of God. The story is one of many in Christian narrative that depi ...

. During this period, and later, he made numerous trips to North Africa. There, he often stayed in

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

with the Orientalist painter,

Étienne Dinet Nasreddine Dinet (born as Alphonse-Étienne Dinet on 28 March 1861 – 24 December 1929, Paris) was a French painting, French Orientalism, orientalist painter and was one of the founders of the Société des Peintres Orientalistes Society for Fre ...

. Under his influence, Silbert created similar works, which are now among his best known. At the , he was responsible for organizing the art exhibits. For several years, he was Director of the Association des Artistes Marseillais. In 1908, he was named a Knight in the

Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and civil. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...

. He was also an Officer in the Tunisian

Order of Glory The Order of Glory () was a military decoration of the Soviet Union established by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet on November 8, 1943. It was awarded to soldiers and non-commissioned officers of the Red Army as well as to aviation ...

and the

Order of the Dragon of Annam The Imperial Order of the Dragon of Annam (, , ; 12 ngày của Ðức Bảo-Ðại tại Bắc-Kỳ. page 82. ) was created in 1886 in the city of Huế, by Emperor Đồng Khánh of the Imperial House of Annam, upon the "recommendation" of th ...

. His works may be seen at the

Musée des beaux-arts de Marseille The Musée des beaux-arts de Marseille is one of the main museums in the city of Marseille, in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. It occupies a wing of the Palais Longchamp, and displays a collection of paintings, sculptures and drawings from ...

, Musée des beaux-arts de Chambéry and the

Musée Cantini The Musée Cantini is a museum in Marseille that has been open to the public since 1936. The museum specializes in modern art, especially paintings from the first half of the twentieth century. The building The musée Cantini building was buil ...

Sources

* André Alauzen di Genova: ''Dictionnaire des peintres et sculpteurs de Provence, Alpes, Côte d'Azur''. Laffitte, Marseille 1986, . * Roger Benjamin: ''Orientalist aesthetics, art, colonialism, and French North Africa, 1880–1930''. University of California Press, Berkeley 2003, . * Sophie Biass-Fabiani: ''Peintres de la couleur en Provence''. Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur, Office Régional de la Culture, Marseille 1995, . * Élisabeth Cazenave: ''L' Afrique du Nord révélée par les musées de province''. Giovanangeli, Paris 2004, .

External links

More works by Silbert
@ ArtNet
Works by Silbert
@ the Base Joconde {{DEFAULTSORT:Silbert, Jose 1862 births 1936 deaths 19th-century French painters French portrait painters French orientalists Recipients of the Legion of Honour Artists from Aix-en-Provence Painters from Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur 20th-century French painters Painters from Marseille