1803 -1886 · French romanticism, navy, watercolor and historical scene

Storms, Normandy coasts, ancient architecture and imaginary ceremonies give Eugène Isabey a romantic language where the atmosphere counts as much as the story.

Eugène Louis Gabriel Isabey was born in Paris in 1803. Son of the famous miniaturist and portraitist Jean-Baptiste Isabey, he grew up in an environment of artists and sponsors, but soon chose the navy, landscape and watercolor rather than the portrait of courtyard. He discovered Normandy, stayed in Honfleur and painted ports, cliffs, fishing villages, wrecks and storm effects with a quick touch and a dark color lit with foam. In 1830, he participated as a painter in the Algiers expedition, an experience which reinforced his taste for maritime movement and reporting. In 1830, he participated as a painter in the Algiers expedition, an experience which reinforced his taste for maritime movement and reporting. In 1830, he participated as a painter in the Algiers expedition, an experience which reinforced his taste for maritime movement and reporting. In 1830, he participated as a painter in the Algiers expedition, an experience which reinforced his taste for maritime movement and reporting. In 1830, he participated as a painter in the Algiers expedition, an experience which reinforced his taste for maritime movement and reporting. In 1830, he participated as a painter in the Algiers expedition, an experience which reinforced his taste for maritime movement and reporting nourish a second side of his work. His historical scenes do not always seek exact reconstruction: they use costumes, darkness, crowds and ancient decor to create a romantic atmosphere. A Ceremony in the Delft church, exhibited at the Salon of 1847, is the major example. The episode is not identified with certainty; the richness of the costumes and the light of the building become the real subject. A highly sought-after artist under the July Monarchy and the Second Empire, Isabey practices oil, watercolor, gouache and lithography. His workshop exerted an influence on Jongkind and Boudin. Died in Montévrain in 1886, he linked the romantic landscape to atmospheric research that prepares impressionism. The "Eugène Isabey" selection notably compares Le Pont de bois and Seigneurs on the beach of Scheveningen. Its reading favors the material.

Isabey makes the atmosphere a story: wave, mist, church darkness or luminous costume are enough to bring about a historical and romantic world.