In the early years of their exile, Eric and Jula Isenburger lived off an inheritance and had no financial worries. This was particularly helpful since the painter Eric Isenburger was suffering from a creative crisis. During this time he presented in exhibitions earlier works that he had created in Germany. He exhibited in, among other galleries, the Salons d'Automne and de Printemps in Paris. His first solo exhibition in exile took place in 1934/35 in the Galerie Moderne in Stockholm.

In 1937 Jula and Eric Isenburger moved to Nice, which offered affordable homes in the 1930s. The local exiles included Eva and Valeriu Marcu, in whose house they found refuge a number of times. Valeriu Marcu also helped them escape from France.

Eric Isenburger overcame his creative crisis in the south of France and he subsequently developed for himself – fascinated as he was by the landscape and the unique light of the region – new concepts of colour and style. He now saw himself in the tradition of the Neo-Impressionists and he was influenced by Henri Matisse and Pierre Bonnard, who also lived in Nice. The oil painting Porträt Eva Marcu is an example of this development, which is characterized by a brighter colour palette and the style of the New Objectivity movement. One also sees here a move towards the enlargement of space. Although the background in this painting still appears stage-like, Isenburger continued to developed this style in subsequent years and increasingly placed the person and the interior in a mutual relationship.