(French 1810-1871)

drawings include ship building, a young sailor on deck, perspective of a deck, small sketches of ships, figures, mending and other maritime activities, some examples inscribed and dated by the artist, circa 1850s, graphite or graphite with watercolor on paper, 4 x 5-3/4 in. to 9-3/4 x 15-1/2 in.; unframed

Note: Antoine Léon Morel-Fatio, who became one of the leading French marine painters of the 19th century, was born into a French family of minor nobility in Rouen. He attended Lycée Louis-le-Grand before being expelled in 1824 for making practical jokes and other infractions, finishing his studies at the college Bourbon. In 1827, he went to sea for the first time in a British merchant ship to learn navigation and other skills of the mariner. Upon his return, he joined the family banking business but soon left the profession and traveled extensively in Europe and the Orient, studying painting. In 1830, he was with the French fleet during the expedition against Algiers, from which he produced a corpus of drawings and paintings that earned him some success at the Salon in 1833. In 1836, Louis-Philippe commissioned him to do a painting illustrating the capture of Algiers for the museum in Versailles, followed by other important commissions. He was the official artist with the French fleet in its expedition against the Levant in 1839 and in 1840, the painting 'The Return of Napoleon's Ashes to France' brought him great notice. Morel- Fatio was made assistant curator of the naval collections of the Louvre (the future Musée national de la Marine), rising to chief curator in 1852. He was awarded the Legion of Honor in 1846 and named Peintre de la Marine in 1853, in recognition of his accomplishments as a marine artist and for his public service. He died in Paris on March 2, 1871 from a heart attack, said to have been brought on by viewing Prussian troops force their way into the Louvre. This small collection of ten drawings, consisting of vessel and sailor studies, were probably taken from a sketchbook that the artist kept during the 1850s, as one drawing is dated 'Marseilles 1850', while another is dated 'Bordeaux 1854' and all are done on the same paper, eight pencil sketches in graphite, while two are rendered in watercolor and graphite. The works have been backed with Japanese rice paper by a professional paper conservator.