Louis Douzette, BARTH IN THE LIGHT OF THE MOON, 1903

62.2 x 92.4cm - oil, canvas signed p.d.: L. Douzette. Barth. 1903.

On the reverse on the upper loom strip dimensions (in pencil): 92 x 62.



During his stay in Paris in 1878, the artist succumbed to the influence of the Barbizon school, which inspired him to leave the studio and paint outdoors. His atmospheric nightscapes earned him the nickname "Moon Douzette." From 1895 until his death, he lived and painted the town of Barth. The featured painting is an excellent example of his nostalgic paintings, saturated with soft moonlight.

A German painter of French descent; he spent his youth in Franzburg and Berlin. Here he began to study painting in the atelier of Herman Eschke and in 1864 painted his first picture with a night landscape illuminated by moonlight. Similar moonlit landscapes over time became the artist's specialty and brought him popularity. At first he painted mainly motifs from the Baltic Sea, later also from the banks of the Rhine and Meuse. He traveled to Italy and in 1878 was in Paris. His work was influenced by Barbizon painting and old Dutch art. Today, the artist's paintings are in the collections of many European museums, including those in Berlin, Leipzig, Dresden, Rostock, Antwerp, Moscow, Prague, Wroclaw and Warsaw, as well as in Sydney, Ausralia.