Paintings, Drawings, Sculpture

Eugène Isabey french , 1803 – 1886 . View of Saint-Malo ( Vue de Saint-Malo )

1854 Watercolor with pencil on paper 9 5 ⁄ 8 x 13 1 ⁄ 8 inches ( 24 . 5 x 33 . 5 cm) Signed and dated lower right

provenance Private collection, US

Eugène Isabey was born to a family of artists. His father, Jean-Baptiste was a well-known court miniaturist who insisted that his son not become a sailor, and instead devote himself to painting. Eugène began by studying with his father and copying the Old Masters at the Louvre, and by 1825 , his landscape paintings were accepted for exhibition in the Salon. He continued to follow in his father’s footsteps by becoming a court painter for King Louis-Philippe in 1831 , but by mid-century he became the influential teacher of artists such as Boudin and Jongkind. His work of this period shows the broad brushwork and bright colors that signified a changing moment in art history, as pleine aire painting gave way to the beginning of Impressionism. Isabey frequently traveled to Normandy to paint the coastline, and in fact shared his first studio in Honfleur with Xavier Leprince. By 1850 , he purchased a home in Varengeville, just west of Dieppe. The distinctive coastline and picturesque architecture of Saint-Malo was of great interest to him, and he painted it often, but mostly in storms and rough seas. The Brittany town was in fact known for the impressively large tides, which in storms would crash up against the breakwaters. Our watercolor which is signed and dated depicts a calmer moment.Tl of the art