Odilon Redon (Bordeaux 1840-1916 Paris)

A very early drawing, executed when the artist was only nineteen years old. It is unfortunately not possible to relate this copy to any known work by Eugène Isabey, although the motif of a fishing boat beached at low tide appears frequently in his marine paintings (for example, P. Miquel, Eugène Isabey 1803-1886: La marine au XIXe siècle, Maurs-la-Jolie, 1980, nos. 486, 1117, 1184 and 1209). Although it seems likely that Isabey's original picture is now lost, a picture by him entitled Barques à marée basse, signed and dated 1859, was sold in the Stumpf sale, Paris, 27 November 1894, lot 27 (Miquel, op. cit., no. 308, not illustrated). It is likely that the picture which Redon copied was executed circa 1859, in order for it to have been exhibited at that time.