Ferdinand Heilbuth (French, 1826-1889). Woman reading at the seashore. Watercolor and gouache on paper. 14-1/2 x 20-5/8 ...

Description

Ferdinand Heilbuth (French, 1826-1889)
Woman reading at the seashore
Watercolor and gouache on paper
14-1/2 x 20-5/8 inches (36.8 x 52.4 cm) (sight)
Signed lower right: F Heilbuth

PROVENANCE:
W. A. Van der Grient (d. 1938), Brussels;
Sotheby's, London, June 23, 1988, lot 747 (as A girl seated on a breakwater);
Sotheby's, New York, January 31, 2014, lot 611;
Private collection, Connecticut;
Private collection, acquired from the above.

The Channel coast, with its clear skies and bracing sea air, inspired French artists throughout the nineteenth century. In the early- to mid-1800s, the artistic focus in the area was trained almost exclusively on the many rustic fishing villages and their inhabitants, immortalized in works by artists like Eugène Isabey, but the second half of the century saw an explosion of activity and economic diversity in the region.

The rapid expansion of the French railroad system during the Second Empire made access to the coast easier and less expensive, and there was no shortage of demand; French city-dwellers were eager for respite from the noises, smells, and heat of bustling Paris. Beachside resorts sprung up in nearly every Channel town as the tourism industry, now open to both the affluent and the middle class, boomed. This influx of summer vacationers provided a parade of new subjects for the next generation of painters, led by now-household names like Gustave Courbet, Claude Monet, and Eugène Boudin.

Ferdinand Heilbuth was a man of motion; the German-born artist travelled frequently within Europe and changed his artistic focus several times before settling in Paris in 1874 and earning his French citizenship in 1879. It was around this time, possibly at the urging of his close friend, Édouard Manet, that Heilbuth turned his attention, and newfound love of watercolors, to contemporary scenes. The resulting compositions, like Woman reading at the seashore, attest to the soundness of Manet's recommendation. The young woman sits to read a letter, dressed fashionably in a coat and hat to preserve her ivory complexion; her parasol, freed of its sun-shielding duties, sits by her side as she grasps the letter with both gloved hands, lest the salty breeze carry it away. Heilbuth thoughtfully captures the activity around her-other beachgoers sit above the tide line or pull skiffs to shore, and small sailing boats dot the horizon. The naturalistic rendering of the sky, the sea, and the pebbled shore are a testament to Heilbuth's mastery of the watercolor medium.


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