Ferdinand Heilbuth ” Lovers in the Park”

A classic Romantic Movement oil painting on wood panel depicting two lovers. They are dressed in Renaissance almost theatrical garments and they sit intimately close to one another on a bench. The atmospheric background is set in the middle of a wooded park in the early evening hours before dusk. Their faces are almost in shadow as the brilliant orange/red sun sets behind them. The painting is signed F. Heilbuth on the right hand bottom corner of the canvas and is dated ’76 in reference to 1876.

Biography

Ferdinand Heilbuth, (1826-1889), was a German-born French painter. He was born in Hamburg in 1826, and died in Paris in 1889 having become a French citizen in 1876, the same year he painted this work. He is buried in Père-Lachaise cemetery in Paris.

This genre painter whose talent has the characteristics of nobility, liveliness of color and accent in expression, exhibited many times at the Royal Academy in London. His works were also shown in the Grosvenor Gallery London, as well as at the Boston Athenaeum. Besides London and Paris the artist had working stints in Antwerp, Munich, and Rome. He won Medals at the Paris salon in 1857, 1858 and 1861. It is interesting to note that Vincent Van Gogh was an admirer of Ferdinand’s work. This particular work was painted in Paris.

Dimensions of panel: 26″W (66cm) X 22″H (56cm)

Reference: HL RP 15887