Whites Antiques has dated this piece to the 19th Century.
English 19th Century
Gustave de Bréanski (c1856-1899)
Oil on Canvas
Paintings by this artist are increasingly sought after by discerning collectors
H: 68cm (26.8") W: 53cm (20.9")
The painting portrays a Sussex lugger, a type of wooden fishing boat, making its way into the harbour past a wooden breakwater or jetty, with a white lighthouse at its end, set against the backdrop of chalk cliffs and a dramatic sky.
Nonetheless, it is definitely one of the harbours on the East Sussex or Kent coastline.
Presently, Gustave de Bréanski's paintings are increasingly sought after by discerning collectors.
Biographical details may be found in The Dictionary of British Artists, and The Dictionary of Victorian Painters by Christopher Wood.
Gustave de Bréanski (circa 1856-1899)
Gustave de Bréanski, a British artist of the late 19th century, was born around 1856 in Greenwich, London, though some records suggest it might have been in the second quarter of 1859. He was the progeny of Leopold de Bréanski, a languages professor born in 1810, and his wife Eugenie (1819-1974), both French natives. The family resided in Greenwich until after 1871, relocating to Cookham, Berkshire by 1881.
Like his elder brother Alfred, Gustave was celebrated for his enchanting landscapes and coastal scenes. A prolific painter, he was known primarily as a landscape artist, with a particular focus on marine and coastal subjects that dominated his work. Gustave's style was broader and more impressionistic than his brother's. His seven Royal Academy exhibits from 1878 to 1887 were predominantly marine views.
Gustave's paintings, often featuring fishing boats and other vessels, offered a maritime realism that set him apart from contemporaries focused on yachts and naval ships. His masterful colour use and well-balanced, perspective-rich compositions evoked the true spirit of maritime life.
His art graced eight Royal Academy paintings, 40 at The Royal Society of British Artists, seven at The Royal Hibernian Academy, and four each at The Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool and Manchester City Art Gallery, among other London and regional exhibition spaces. His exhibition record in London until 1893 is chronicled in Gray's Dictionary. A staunch supporter of the Suffolk Street Galleries, he exhibited 51 canvases there throughout his career.
In 1884, Gustave wed Annie Matilda Pyne, granddaughter of the renowned landscape painter James Baker Pyne (1800-1870). The couple had five children, four surviving. Their sons were Gustave Adolphe (b. 1885), Leopold Pyne (b. 1886), and Maximilian M. (b. 1890). By the 1891 Census, the family had returned to London, settling in Deptford, Greenwich.
Tragically, Gustave succumbed to pneumonia in October 1899, at an age believed to be in his early forties.
This is his obituary, found in the Kentish Mercury of 20th October, 1899.
'We also have to record the death of Mr. Gustave de Bréanski, of 51 Ladywell Park, Lewisham, which took place on Thursday of 1st week, from acute pneumonia, after an illness of only a few days. Mr. de Bréanski, who was well-known as a talented artist whose metier lay chiefly in the direction of seascapes, was the son of the late Leopold de Bréanski, a major in the French Army in the days of Louis Phillippe, afterwards for many years professor of languages at the Greenwich Preparatory School, on Royal Hill, and for some time connected with the scholastic establishment of the late Mr. John Bell at The Grove, Blackheath, where the subject of this notice was educated. Mr. Gustave de Bréanski was born at Circus Lodge, Royal Hill, Greenwich, an
Whites Antiques has dated this piece to the 19th Century.
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Oil on Canvas ‘Coming in to Harbour’ Gustave De Bréanski (C1856-1899)