THÉODORE GUDIN (PARIS 1802-1880 BOULOGNE-SUR-MER)

Dating from the end of Gudin’s career, this small wash drawing was made in Nice in 1875, five years before the artist’s death, when he was focusing on the atmospheric variations of the seascape, and less on narrative subjects he favoured in his youth, such as battle scenes and fires. After his early training in the navy, which left him with a taste for the sea, Gudin joined the studio of Anne-Louis Girodet-Trioson and became friends with Théodore Gericault and Eugène Delacroix. He exhibited at the Paris Salon from 1822 onwards and quickly completed several commissions for King Louis-Philippe and his family.