BRO DE COMÈRES Olivier (Passy-sur-Seine 1813 - Paris 1874) In front of the ramparts of Kolea

BRO DE COMÈRES Olivier (Passy-sur-Seine 1813 - Paris 1874)

In front of the ramparts of Kolea

Watercolor

20.5 x 36.5 cm

Bears lower right handwritten annotation Coleah 1834 and monogram O.B.



The annotation "Coleah 1834" situates the watercolor in Kolea, a small town west of Algiers, overlooking the Mitidja plain. In 1834, Kolea had just been occupied by French forces (taken in 1833, recaptured in 1834), a context that prompted numerous topographical surveys and views by officers, engineer-geographers and travelling artists. The work is fully in line with this documentary production of the 1830s, attentive to the topography and structure of the landscape. The "Coleah" spelling is used - particularly in English transcriptions - from the 1830s.

The initials "O.B." refer to Olivier Bro de Comères, whose drawing work is known for its exact views of the sites he visited on his travels. The son of Louis Bro de Coméres, one of the most important officers of the Napoleonic and Restoration periods, Olivier Bro de Comères grew up in a Parisian environment closely linked to artistic circles, notably through his father's relationships with Géricault and Delacroix. Around 1833, the family moved to North Africa, mainly to Algiers, but also to Oran. It was during these years that Olivier Bro began to draw continuously, building up a prolific body of work of which some twenty drawings were documented in June 1840. His work, essentially documentary, covers military scenes, portraits, architectural surveys, scenes of daily life and studies of flora and fauna. He worked from sketchbooks, where he recorded observations and details in order to elaborate his finished drawings.