Fernand Herbo - The Tugboat

Watercolor by Fernand Herbo (1905–1995) depicting a tugboat heading out to sea.

Work signed lower left, dated (19)58, and inscribed on the back. Framed in gold.

Dimensions: 15 x 19.5 cm; with frame: 26.7 x 31.6 cm

During his youth in Montmartre, Herbo created posters and set designs for theater and film, and rubbed shoulders with painters such as Maurice de Vlaminck and Othon Friesz. In 1938, he left Paris and settled permanently in Honfleur. From then on, his work was devoted almost exclusively to landscapes of the region. He was appointed Painter to the Navy in 1944, and the French government acquired one of his paintings for the Museum of Modern Art in Paris.

In the early 1950s, he met the gallery owner and poet Katia Granoff, who exhibited his work in her gallery in Honfleur. She also exhibited works by Marc Chagall and Othon Friesz. He thus became one of the leading figures of what would come to be known as the École de l’Estuaire.

In this vibrant watercolor with well-preserved colors, Herbo chose to paint a tugboat. The movement of the water is beautifully rendered, and the use of red on the hull draws the viewer’s gaze to the subject of the work.