Charles Euphrasie Kuwasseg (French, 1838 to 1904)
An accomplished and respected marine painter of the Breton and Normandy coasts, Kuwasseg was from an artistic Austrian family; two of his uncles and his father Karl-Josef Kuwasseg (1802 to 1870) were successful artists. He received his earliest training from his father, who believed travel was essential to an artistic education. Father and son traveled extensively across Europe, South America, and England and this experience proved invaluable to Kuwasseg’s development as a painter.
After spending several years as a sailor, Kuwasseg moved to Paris where he resumed his studies under the acclaimed marine painters Jean-Baptist Durand-Brager (1814 to 1879) and Eugene Isabey (1803 to 1886). He debuted at the Paris Salon in 1855 and throughout his career he exhibited regularly at the Paris Salon and the Salon des Artistes Francaise (where he received a third place medal in 1892). Kuwasseg became a professor of Art in Paris where his students included Marie-Joseph Clavel (Iwill) (1850 to 1923).
Reference: Benezit. Dictionnaire des Peintres. Librairie Grund. 1976. Vol. VI, p. 362.
Information courtesy of Neal Auction Company, February 2009.