“Oriental Harbour view” by Jean-Baptiste Durand-Brager

Animated harbour view, probably Haifa. A large two-master vessel sits at the bank. View over the Mount Carmel in the back. Nice bright sky and vivid southern colours. Paintbrush touches in the water. Signed lower left. Oil on canvas with original frame. Cleaned professionally and revarnished. Frame restored.

Size: H 50 x W 80cm – H 70 cm x W 100 cm

French School of the second part of the 19th century.

Liter: Born near Doll-de-Bretagne, 1814 and died in Paris,1879. Painter of seascapes and military subjects
He entered Eugene Isabey’s atelier, after several trips through Europe, the African coast, Senegal and Asia.
he took part at long trips/missions to paint subjects ordered by Officers of the French Marine.
In 1840, he participates at the expedition to bring Napoleon’s ashes from the island of Sainte-Hélène to France. He published an in-folio with texts and officials’ pieces regarding the trip, alongside two oils on canvasses at the Paris Salon.
He came back in France in 1843 where he painted ‘The battle between the French Marine and British marine’. The year after, he was asked by the French government to execute two great paintings: ‘The bombing of Mogador’ and ‘The take-over of the island of Mogador’ . In 1844, he was honoured with the cross of the ‘Legion d’Honneur’ and became an officer of the army in 1865.
He obtained the order of 21 paintings representing the battles of the war of Crimea for the galleries of Versailles. Those were presented at the Salon in 1857, which leaded the King of Austria to order him a view of the battle of Lissa (currently Vis) in 1866. Later, he even worked for the Russian Emperor representing the ‘The Combat of Singapore’.
In 1869, he executes for Versailles, a piece called “the second battle between the Japanese army and the allies”
His seascapes are known to be real documents although his brush has a sensitive way of representing nature and landscapes.

Lit: In the 18th century, Haifa was under Ottoman rule until 1918, except for two brief periods: in 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte conquered Haifa as part of his unsuccessful campaign to conquer Palestine and Syria but withdrew in the same year; and between 1831 and 1840, the Egyptian viceroy Mehemet Ali governed, after his son Ibrahim Pasha wrested control from the Ottomans. In the years following the Egyptian occupation, Haifa grew in population and importance while Acre suffered a decline. The arrival of the German Templers in 1868, who settled in what is now known as the German Colony of Haifa, was a turning point in Haifa’s development. The Templers built and operated a steam-based power station, opened factories and inaugurated carriage service to Acre, Nazareth and Tiberias, playing a key role in modernizing the city.