Painting in Corsica has evolved across a wide range of styles, from depictions of villages, ports, and island landscapes to more contemporary forms of abstract art. Several generationsof Corsican painters, or artists based in Corsica, have thus depicted the island according to their era, technique, and artistic sensibility.
Contemporary painting in Corsica explores diverse approaches focused on abstraction, textural work, color, relief, mixed media, and unconventional surfaces. Some artists use oil paint, a palette knife, or aluminum, or combine multiple materials within a single work.
In Algajola, in the Balagne region, Hélène Bécu, a painter at the Atelier ToileFilante, creates contemporary abstract works on canvas and aluminum. Her creations combine oil painting, palette knife work, textural elements, and—depending on the piece—various materials inspired by the island's environment.
A significant portion of 19th- and 20th-century Corsican painting is linked to the depiction of the island's landscape. Fishing ports, coastlines, villages, mountains, churches, and rural scenes are recurring subjects among many painters who have worked on the island.
Today, these works hold both artistic and documentary value: they bear witness to how Corsican landscapes and villages were perceived and depicted during different periods.
Born in Bastia in 1887 and died in 1950, Olynthe Madrigali devoted a significant portion of his work to seascapes. Ports, coastlines, fishing boats, and fishermen appear in many of his paintings.
The Cap Corse region is particularly well-represented, notably featuring Erbalunga and Rogliano, as well as Saint-Florent, the Aliso area, and the San Stefanu Pass with the Lancone Gorge. Trained under the Avignon painter Paul-Jean-Marie Saïn, Madrigali also painted outside of Corsica, notably in Algeria, where he depicted the port of Ténès.
Madrigali's paintings can be found both at antique dealers on the island—such as the Antiquités de Bastia shop— and on specialized websites that catalog his works, such as , which shed light on the style of this well-known artist from Bastia.
Annie Mari-Roustan (1920–2011) devoted a large part of her work to Corsican landscapes. Painting primarily in oil on canvas, she depicted the sea, mountains, rivers, and villages she encountered during her travels across the island.
Beginning in the postwar period, she regularly traveled throughout Corsica in search of landscapes to paint and exhibited her work notably in Bastia and Ajaccio. Her body of work also includes still lifes created later in her career.
Born in 1909 and died in 1996, Fernand Cresci also depicted numerous Corsican landscapes, notably villages, churches, and various scenes related to the island's heritage.
His name remains closely associated with Bastia, where a street in the Annonciade neighborhood is named after him: Rue Ferdinand Cresci.
Louis Schiavo is an internationally recognized Corsican artist. His work is not limited to landscape painting: drawings, paintings, installations, and photographs make up a body of work spanning several decades.
Bastia and Corsica nevertheless remain very present in his work, sometimes directly, sometimes in a transformed or symbolic form. His body of work explores different periods and approaches—including his “anti-paintings”—through an artistic practice rooted in experimentation and innovation.
In 2014, the Bastia Museum dedicated the catalog *Louis Schiavo, Creator in Bastia (1955–2014)* to him, chronicling nearly sixty years of creative work.
Today, works by deceased painters circulate primarily on the art market, among collectors, auction houses, galleries, and antique dealers. Paintings depicting Corsica are particularly sought after when they allow for the identification of an artist, a location, a period, or a technique.
In Bastia, the antique dealer Lionel Boutet specializes in paintings and artworks related to Corsica and can serve as a starting point for discovering, buying, selling, or having pieces attributed to Corsican artists appraised.
Paintings related to Corsica do not, therefore, adhere to a single style. Previous generations largely depicted the island's landscapes, ports, villages, and mountains in a figurative style, while some contemporary artists are exploring abstraction, texture, relief, or new media.
This diversity allows visitors to discover both works that today serve as a pictorial record of Corsican landscapes and contemporary creations produced in the island's studios.
