DUPRÉ, Attributed to Jules

Ships in Stormy Weather

Oil on canvas. Signed lower left, inscribed on the back of the stretcher.

19 x 33 cm.

Two ships near the coast as a thunderstorm recedes, with the sunset shining brightly in the background. Canvas mounted on a backing board.

If this is indeed the artist Jules Dupré, then the following biographical information applies: French landscape painter (1811 Nantes – 1889 L’Isle-Adam/Val-d’Oise), who learned porcelain painting at his father’s factory and later studied under Diébolt in Paris. His landscapes are strongly inspired by the English painter John Constable, making him the leading French exponent of the “Paysage intim” style, though he was also exceptionally skilled at painting sublime seascapes such as this one.