“Greater Toulouse and its painters” by Audrey Marty
Audrey Marty pays tribute to the painters who immortalized Toulouse
200 paintings. This is the number of works listed by the author and biographer Audrey Marty. A graduate in Art History and Archives, this Toulouse native published her first book in 2020 “the fabulous destiny of Jane Dieulafoy” with The Red Butterfly Editor. This time, she returns with her second book “Le grand Toulouse et ses Painters”. A book “which allows you to discover the Pink City in an innovative way”, as the biographer explains.
“This book is part of the collection of my publishing house, which has already published a work entitled Montpellier and its great painters. They had plans to do the same thing in the city of Toulouse. So they called on me,” says Audrey Marty. The latter admits “not having been interested in the artists of her city, but earlier in the works produced by Italian painters”. Thus, when her publisher offers her this new adventure, she accepts it and “it was a pleasant surprise since I made some great discoveries”, confides the author. In total, in this illustrated work, it is possible to discover 70 artists and 200 works. Audrey Marty discovered other paintings that she should have put in “Le Grand Toulouse et ses Peintres”, but “we couldn’t put everything because we had a number of pages to respect. In addition, we come up against copyrights. Some works are not in the public domain, therefore, we needed the agreement of either the artist or his rights holders. It’s quite frustrating not to have been able to put certain works.
In addition to being illustrated with paintings, this work includes biographical notices on the artists and integrated by theme. Audrey Marty spent a year researching painters who have immortalized Toulouse over the centuries. To do this, she scoured archives, museums, the internet and followed the advice of gallerists. All this research was carried out between the two confinements. This work has enabled the Toulousaine to list many painters ranging from the most famous to the least known. For her, what the common point between them is: “The loyalty they have towards Toulouse”. Among the artists that Audrey Marty has brought together in this book, some have been “a great discovery. This is the case of Léon Soulié who was a watercolourist. He is a painter from the beginning of the 19th century. I didn’t know him very well. By discovering his art, I realized that it is not highlighted enough. The other artist for whom it was a nice surprise is François Gauzi”.
In addition to her book, “Grand Toulouse and its painters”, Audrey Marty offers a guided tour, in the streets of Toulouse, in the footsteps of the painters who immortalized the pink city. Moreover, the latter has received a new order from its publisher to write a second book on the same subject. It pays tribute to the artists of the region. It will be called “Painters and colors of Occitania”. Audrey Marty also plans to write another biography, this time about a man.
Greater Toulouse and its painters • The Red Butterfly Editor