SwissArtGallery · Documented identity
The French painter Jean-Baptiste Isabey, born in Nancy in 1767 and deceased in 1855, developed a practice combining painting, miniature painting, drawing and watercolour. His training initially brought together several fields: in Nancy, Jean Girardet taught him architecture and decoration, while Claudot introduced him to landscape painting; in 1788, he entered the studio of Jacques-Louis David, who taught him the principles of Neoclassicism. He first exhibited at the Salon in 1791 and showed works there regularly until 1841.
La Nacelle, ou Barque d’Isabey, shown at the Salon in 1797, depicts him with his wife and their three children in a boat. Among his drawings is Portrait de Bonaparte à la Malmaison, dated 1801 and held at the Château de Malmaison in Rueil-Malmaison.
In 1792, Isabey was appointed captain and commanded the troop of art students tasked with guarding the Louvre. After the proclamation of the Empire, he became painter and draughtsman to the Emperor’s Cabinet, responsible for ceremonies and foreign relations; for the preparations for Napoleon’s coronation, he designed the participants’ ceremonial dress. La Table d’Austerlitz, also known as Table des maréchaux, was shown at the Salon in 1810 and is held at the Musée de Malmaison. In 1811, he created a representation of Doctor Dubois presiding over the birth of Marie-Louise.
At the Empress’s request, he travelled to Vienna in September 1812 to paint portraits of her family; he returned with sixteen miniatures, exhibited at the Salon in November of the same year. The drawing Conférence du Congrès de Vienne, shown at the Salon in 1817, brings together Metternich, Wellington and Talleyrand, among others.
In 1823, Louis XVIII appointed him draughtsman and organiser of the Court’s festivities and performances; under the July Monarchy, he became deputy curator of the royal museums, working alongside François Marius Granet. In 1852, the Musée du Louvre dedicated a room to his costume drawings from the Empire. Works by Isabey are also held in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, including Group of Children Around a Candle, dated 1818, and Fountain in the Garden of the Villa Borghese, Rome, dated 1822.
This profile brings together identity references for Jean-Baptiste Isabey and paintings, drawings and works on paper documented in auction catalogues.
9 references are documented at Artcurial Beurret Bailly Widmer, Dobiaschofsky, Zofingen, Piguet. Each record links to its source; the amounts are not a general valuation of the artist’s work.
Gouache
Portrait Eugène de Beauharnais (1781 - 1824)
gouache
Catalogue period : 2024-11-29
Published result : 5000 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 500
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Ink on paper
Portrait de profil de
encre sur papier
Catalogue period : 2022-09-07 — 2022-09-21
Published result : 6000 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 300–500
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Gouache
Bildnis von Stanislaus II. August Poniatowski (1732-1798).
gouache
Catalogue period : 2017-11-08
Published result : 440 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 700
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Gouache
Bildnis einer jungen Dame mit Schleier.
gouache
Catalogue period : 2017-11-08
Published result : 460 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 800
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Gouache on ivory
Portrait de Louis XVIII, 1814
Gouache auf Elfenbein
Catalogue period : 2015-06-20
Published result : 2432 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 2000–3000
View the lot at the auction house ↗These references are shown separately because of their attribution or lot composition. Each record states the reason.
Watercolour and gouache on ivory
Cercle de Jean Baptiste Isabey — Napoléon Ier
Aquarelle et gouache sur ivoire
Cercle de
Catalogue period : 2020-11-24 — 2020-12-08
Circle of
Published result : 650 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 400–600
View the lot at the auction house ↗Gouache
Nach
gouache
Catalogue period : 2013-05-15
These references are shown separately because of their attribution or lot composition. Each record states the reason.
Published result : 100 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 150
View the lot at the auction house ↗Gouache
D’après Jean Baptiste Isabey — Brustbildnis von Napoléon Bonaparte.
gouache
nach
Date to be documented
After
Published result : 3600 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 300
View the lot at the auction house ↗Gouache
Attribué à Jean Baptiste Isabey — Brustporträt einer französischen Dame des 18./19. Jh.
gouache
zugeschrieben
Date to be documented
Attributed
Published result : 2000 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 3500
View the lot at the auction house ↗SwissArtGallery documentary note based on the cited sources. Titles, media and qualifications are provided in the profile language; the original catalogue wording remains available in each record.
Documentation updated : 2026-10-19
