Lot 146: Marie-Victor-Emile Isenbart (French, 1846-1921)

Marie-Victor-Emile Isenbart (French, 1846-1921)
La Moisson
signed 'E. ISENBART' (lower left)
oil on canvas
36¼ x 53¼ in. (92.1 x 135.3 cm.)

Born in Besancon, the capital of the Franche-Compté, in 1846, Emile Isenbart received his artistic education in the studio of Clement Alphonse Antonin Fanart. He very quickly developed his own style and his talent was immediately recognized. His canvases, which for the most part depict the landscape of the countryside surrounding his native town, are treated in a style very different from other landscapists from the area.

Isenbart painted in a very rapid, fluid style having a preference for cooler tones punctuated by ochres and a very rich and bright green. The use of a dark undertone, heightened by layers of lighter paint is clearly due to the influence of his most famous neighbor, Gustave Courbet. The luminosity of his painting, the harmony of his palette, the quick brushwork and the pastoral atmosphere is reminiscent of the work of Claude Monet.

Such large paintings by Isenbart rarely appear on the market. La moisson is executed on a grand scale and is a tour-de-force of color and light. It is clear that the artist was influenced by the Barbizon painters as well as the new formulations of the Impressionist movement. The theme is definitely Barbizon, harvesters at work in the fields, but the execution of the work definitely looks to the theories and tenets of Impressionism. The scene takes place under a clear blue sky animated by a few bright white summer clouds. The artist has chosen to make his brushwork visible in the sky, again looking to the work of Monet. The field is punctuated by the same touches of very bright white, emphasizing the scope and depth of the landscape. The white is again echoed in the bleached shirts of the laborers, busy with their work. The overall effect is of a clear, warm summer day in the Franch-Compté.