Offered by Galerie Delvaille
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French furniture of the 18th century & French figurative paintings
Oil on paper mounted on canvas, signed lower left
Dimensions: H. 41.5 cm x W. 62 cm
Dimensions with frame: H. 63.5 cm x W. 83.5 cm
At the end of the 19th century, Emile Isenbart established himself as the finest landscape painter of Franche-Comté. Originally from the Doubs region, this painter left us peaceful and wonderful paintings of the area around Besançon and the Jura Mountains. He developed an interest in painting at a very young age. He studied under Antonin Clément Fanart (1831-1903), an excellent realist painter whose work, of comparable quality and power, rivaled that of Gustave Courbet during the same period.
Isenbart painted a few mythological subjects, but his immense talent truly shines in his mountain views and waterscapes. From 1872, the artist exhibited at the Salon in Paris, and at the Salon des Artistes Français, of which he became a member in 1888. In 1897, he was made a Knight of the Legion of Honour. Emile Isenbart exhibited landscapes of the Doubs riverbanks and the Jura mountains on several occasions in Vienna and Munich. He received medals at the Universal Expositions of 1889 and 1900.
Isenbart's brushwork is lively, realistic, and at the same time impressionistic. His compositions are meticulously studied, and his technique for depicting rivers and streams is simply remarkable: Isenbart is undoubtedly the French artist who best captured the reflections and ripples of water.
Works by this sensitive painter are in the collections of several important French museums, including a drawing entitled "Perspective of Meadows with Hills on the Horizon," held by the Louvre Museum in Paris. Isenbart also created the frescoes that adorn the walls of the Parliament of Besançon (built in 1582), now the city's Palace of Justice. He died on March 21, 1921, in Besançon.
Our painting is a remarkable work in which Isenbart demonstrates his talent as a draftsman and his profound understanding of nature. The precision and accuracy of the depiction of the trees are particularly noteworthy. While depictions of the French Jura are numerous in this painter's work, this view of the Swiss Jura is particularly rare. The composition is clever, with a break in the perspective on the right that opens up the view and reveals the opposite bank, where the houses are rendered with skillful, delicate brushstrokes. As is his custom, Isenbart employs an infinite range of green hues in this work. Here again, Isenbart offers us a vision of tranquil and restful nature, in which human activity is almost entirely absent.
This oil painting is in excellent condition, without any damage or significant restoration. It remains in its beautiful original frame of wood and gilt stucco, which has been perfectly restored.
