The Fortin was built in 1861 to keep watch over shipping in and out of Marseille harbour. Strollers with a taste for art or the picturesque, walking along the coast, can discover it below the road that heads westward from L’Estaque.
L’Estaque, a halt on the path of art history
The singular building in spare Neoclassical style, set in a huge terraced garden, is an enchanting surprise. All the more so when you look out and see the deep blue mirror of the sea below your feet. This is one of the typical L’Estaque landscapes immortalised by the painters of the early 20th century: Cézanne, Braque, Dufy and Derain all set down their easels here. In 2011 Marc Stammegna, acting on a keen intuition, put his precious collection of 200 Monticelli paintings on show here in the newly restored Fortin de Corbières. From these paintings it’s easy to imagine how Van Gogh was inspired by Marseille painter Adolphe Monticelli. He even came from Arles in order to meet him. Both painters foreshadowed things to come, and for connoisseurs of art history, Monticelli is a link in the chain from Impressionism through Fauvism to Abstraction. He was also central to the currents that inspired the Provençal painters Seyssaud and Chabaud. So this initiative is a master-stroke for Marc Stammegna and for Marseille city council, which owns the fort.
The Stammegna family, a dynasty of art lovers
It was Marc Stammegna’s destiny to be born into a family where art was king: his father and grandfather restored paintings for a living. Marc too was drawn inextricably into a fascination for art that still today shines out from his blue eyes. Though a spare-time artist and former student at Marseille’s prestigious Ecole des Beaux-Arts, by profession he is an art dealer and an expert for Artcurial, Sotheby’s and Christie’s. The Art Institute of Chicago invites him to speak and his advice is earnestly sought for major exhibitions such as Sous le Soleil exactement in 2005 and Van Gogh-Monticelli in 2007. Working with his wife Delphine, he is showing bronzes by Greek artist Zafiropulo at the Fortin until 7 September – with a remarkable exhibition design. Home to the Fondation Monticelli, this architectural gem looking out across Marseille’s bay also hosts temporary exhibitions.
Fortin de Corbières, route du Rove, L’Estaque - 13006 Marseille - Tél. 04 91 03 49 46
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