This little-known artist came from the Vosges region of France. Many of the landscapes which he exhibited at the Salons between 1817 and 1827 were inspired by the Alsace countryside, but he also recorded picturesque views of towns and ruins in his native Vosges. He received a gold medal from the Salon in 1827. He was best known as a lithographer, partly on the strength of a new lithographic process which he is said to have discovered, and he also gave drawing lessons to ladies.

It has been impossible to establish either the date or the provenance of this watercolor. There is not a single mention of the Boug d’Orschwiller in contemporary Dutch art reviews, nor did he participate in the exhibitions of Works by Living Masters. In 1845 a drawing from his hand was sold at auction in the Netherlands, but so far this is the only such record to be found.

Comparison of this watercolor of a lonely traveler on a mountain road with the artist’s litographs shows that it is in every way typical of his work. None of his other watercolors appear to have survived.
( Wiepke Loos)