Désiré Donny is a lesser known, but very gifted representative of Flemish Romanticism. He painted genre scenes, marines and beach scenes with fishermen with a strong Dutch slant. Around 1839 he also started painting moonlit harbours and cityscapes, including of his birthplace Bruges. Donny was a student at the Academy of Bruges but lived and worked in Brussels for most of his life. His work can be found in museums in Kortrijk and Ypres.