I acquired a small watercolour which leads us to today’s focus, #EugeneIsabey (1803-1886). Eugene Isabey was born into an artistic family. His father Jean-Baptiste enjoyed the patronage of the French Imperial Family and he himself became a court painter to King Louis-Philippe. His works favour historical paintings, genre scenes and landscapes and some very fine marine/seascapes.

The small watercolour is possibly a study done by Isabey for his finished work ‘Wäscher an Fluss’. The rendering of the structures tells me that they were done at the same time as the oil painting. Slight variations in the people illustrated as well as an additional boat by the bridge are seen. It has a pin hole in each of the corners, which might mean it was possibly painted in situ. A nice use of soft colours and shadowing gives a good foundation from which to work toward a finished oil painting. A nice work for a study.