french landscape painting
TRANSCRIPT
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French Landscape Painting
Lorraine to Cezanne
Diane Marks
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Introduction
Landscape painting was an underappriciated genre for most of the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries in France. It was looked down upon by the elites in the Academy, and seen as being
lower than all other forms of painting. Despite that, artists like Lorraine and Poussin in the
seventeenth century were able to elevate the status of landscape painting, even if only briefly.
The nineteenth century was when landscape painting was taken more seriously by the
Academy, creating an award for it in the beginning of the century. Treatises were being written
about landscape, and there were more landscape painters in France then there ever had been
before. It had become a golden age of landscape painting.
17th
Century
While landscape was highly thought of in countries such as the Netherlands and England
around this time, it was looked down upon in France. It was considered a lesser genre at best,
and was not even represented in the royal collection until the 1660s. (Wintermute) Though
that is not to say that it was not collected at all before then, landscape has been previously
purchased by the nobility to decorate their homes, but it was not seen as a serious genre.
Landscape before Lorraine had raised its status was rarely done, and when it was it was
because of influence from other countries. (Wintermute)
Le Nain
Much of the careers of the Brothers Le Nain are unclear, and it still unknown which of the
brothers painted what, because all three of them signed with just their last name. Guesses have
been made as to who created what based on materials used, and the subjects of the works.
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None of the art currently known about is dated past 1648, the year that Antoine and Louis had
died. Mattieu was known to have painted after the deaths of his brothers, but either he did not
sign them, or they were lost with most of the paintings that he and his brothers created.
(Kromm)
Landscape with Peasants and a Chapel (B1)
It is a landscape with figures that has no clear narrative. The buildings are set in the middle
ground and background, and do not have as much dimensional realism to them that the figures
do. The primary grouping of figures is in the foreground, what looks like a family of peasants
sitting out in the field by the chapel. There are other figures in the setting, but they are set in
the middle ground. Le Nain seems to have set up the composition to focus on one family in a
landscape setting. The landscape has an overall tonal feel to it, and there is localized color, in
the clothing of the peasants. The sky is light and full of soft clouds, and the landscape appears
to be tilted up slightly. There is a path that winds from the foreground, past the chapel and into
the background. It helps draw the viewers eye from the front to the back of the painting.
Landscape with Peasants (B2)
A small group of peasants are set into a moody tonal landscape. The sky is full of dark, and the
land beneath them is vast and pastoral. There are small hills in the background, at the horizon
line, and the space feels vast and open. There are four figures in the foreground, three children
and an old woman. The reddish tone of the childrens clothing is in contrast to the tonal greens
and browns of the painting. Behind the old woman is a building, the only one in the foreground.
There are more in the background, in the pasture and on the hills.
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Poussin
Early in Poussins career, he did not yet have a set style; his patrons would push and pull his
style depending on what they wanted. (Kromm) When he did develop his style more, it was
very methodically set, and he would research the subject and did multiple studies on how to
compose the painting. When he would compose his paintings, he would use a box with wax
figures placed into it and artificial lighting. He paid attention to the landscape in his landscape
scenes; however, it wasnt until later in his career that he would become more concerned
about nature in his landscapes. (Allen)
Ashes of Phocion (B3)
Part of a series, this painting depicts the widow of Phocion collecting his ashes. Unlike most of
Poussins work, the figures are a small part of the work. The landscape is the main attraction of
the art. It is an imaginary landscape, carefully calculated by Poussin. There is a mathematical
precision to every detail of the painting, giving it a very un-natural feeling. The clouds look like
cotton hanging in his sky, instead of gaseous clouds. The ancient buildings in the background
look as though they were painted from a miniature. This very well may be possible, as Poussin
was known to have a box in which he would set wax models to figure out his composition, using
artificial light to set up his lights and shadows. The foliage looks as though he painted every
leaf in great detail. Poussin had a great attention to detail, and would make many studies and
do research before he would create the final composition on canvas.
Blind Orion Searching for the Rising Sun (B4)
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It is a lighter, more whimsical painting than most of Poussins paintings over his career. It
almost has a more decorative feel to it, a precursor to so-called Rococo art. The giant Orion is
being led away from the viewer, by smaller figures while Diana looks on from a cloud. The
foliage in the landscape is all in a muted tone, and the cloud that Diana is on is dark and
foreboding. The cloud looks tactical, as though it were made of cotton, as do the clouds in the
background of the painting. There are no sharp contrasts in the piece; it has an overall muted,
tonal quality about it.
Lorraine
Claude Lorraine spent most of his working life in and around Rome, Italy. His patrons were his
friends, and he did not try to win the approval of the French Government, or to be patronized
by the French. He was also the first major landscape artist of French origin, as well as one of the
first artists to be known to work out-of-doors. His work in landscape temporarily elevated the
status of landscape painting from barely suitable to be considered more than craft to that of
fine art. In his earlier work, he was inspired by mannerism, and incorporated the landscape
formulas of Paul Bril and Adam Elsheimer. (Allen) However, as his career progressed, he
developed his own formula, and moved to more of a classical style. In his work, the landscape
was the major feature of the work, there would be figures in his art, but they were small and
there was generally no clear narrative. In other paintings with a landscape setting, the figures
were the important part of the painting, and the landscape was merely a backdrop. Lorraine
was also the first artist who, through observation, incorporated atmosphere and lighting
effects, and only worked at sunrise or sunset to get the effects he desired. (Kromm)
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The Mill (B5)
It is a painting from early in Lorraines career, before he developed his signature formulaic
composition style, though signs of its beginnings can be seen in this painting. The trees are
backlit, giving the entire composition a moody feel. There are small figures in the foreground,
but they are mostly in the shadow of the trees. It feels as though Lorraine put them there
because he felt like he had to. The landscape is the star of the painting. The figures are in the
foreground, by a body of water, and in the middle ground are a cluster of trees to one side of
the water and on the other side is a mill. In the background is a forest area, with hills faded by
atmospheric mist. Great attention is paid to the lighting and the atmosphere, more so than
most other artists of his time.
The Roman Campagna (B6)
Painted a few years after The Mill, Lorraine has further developed his signature style. The
foreground is flanked by groupings of trees. In the shadows, between the trees are livestock
and a Shepard. Behind the Shepard is a winding river that draws the viewers eye to the horizon
line. In the river, at about the middle ground is a boat with figures on it. At the same level is a
castle or a fortification and a path that leads back to the foreground, and the Shepard. In the
background, there are rolling hills that are faded and blue-ish in tone. The sky makes up for a
large part of the composition in the middle ground and background. This was a new concept in
French painting, and other artists would tip up the landscape to have less empty space in the
composition.
18th
Century
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There was a disdain for landscape painting by the French Academy, giving it the lowest ranking
of all the genres, below even genre painting and portraiture. (Wintermute) Landscape was seen
as just being there as a backdrop, it was the figures that mattered the most to the Academy.
However, despite the Academy, there were several artists during this time that worked purely
in landscape painting. (Wintermute) During the Neoclassical revival, there was a demand to go
back to the standards of Poussin, including for landscape, and his name would be invoked to
emphasize their point. (Wintermute)
Watteau
Watteaus landscapes were largely made up; he preferred to set his comedians in gardens while
his first teacher had them on a stage. He did also do landscapes from observation, and was
known to have made at least one open air oil painting on paper. (Wintermute) He was an
outsider in the Academic circle, though he tried to be a part of it. Watteau submitted The
Pilgrimage to Cythera for his reception piece, it was accepted by The Academy however, he was
not accepted as a history painter. Instead they created a new category for him, the Fete
Gallante. (Kromm) He unfortunately could not have a Salon career, as they were not a regularly
scheduled event until after his death to tuberculosis. He like other artists of his time had a
private circle which he sold to, and he flirted with censure for having painted a sign for an art
dealer. (McClellan)
The Pilgrimage to Cythera (C1)
Watteaus attempt at a history painting is moody and evocative. The figures dressed in
garments of his time, instead of ancient garb. The landscape is dreamy, and in muted tones.
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The foreground is in tonal browns and greens, and the middle ground and background are in
more whimsical shades of green, as well as muted blues, pinks, and purples. The river in the
middle grounds seems to lazily drift off into the background, as mist creates a romantic
atmosphere, the clouds in the background as light and fluffy, contrasting with the browns of
the foreground. The figures in the foreground are coupled up and are off to an island famed for
romance, and couples are in different stages of romance in the painting. Putti are in the
background, flying in a circle to add a key as to what the main theme of the painting is.
The View (C2)
Figures are set in a small clearing in the way to a stately manor seen in the background beyond
the trees. The figures are paired off, and are courting while resting. There are architectural and
sculptural elements behind the figures as well as a couple of groups of trees. The landscape is in
muted tones, and the leaves on the trees look as though there are more feather like than leaf
like. The sky peeking through the trees and around the manor is cloudy, and helps to give a
moody feeling to the painting. The figures are in fancy dress, and the fabrics of their clothing
are brilliantly rendered in great detail.
Fragonard
As an artist, Fragonard is a rarity in the history of art. He never actively sought a public career;
all of his patrons were friends. When he went to Rome, as the winner of the first prize in
painting in 1757, he spent three years at a school for gifted young artists; however, instead of
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looking toward antiquity for his inspiration, he looked at landscapes. Fragonard used figures to
establish a narrative in his art, where most artists in his time would have made them their focal
point. During his first trip to Italy, he spent much of the time painting with a fellow French artist
named Hubert Robert, and they had a mutual influence in one anothers work as well as a
playful competition. (Hubert) Upon his return to France, he did not try to enter into the French
Academy, and never made a reception piece for them. He worked in paintings, as well as took
commissions for decorative pieces. Fragonard was as talented a draftsman as he was a painter,
and his drawings were often as worked up and detailed as his paintings.
The Progress of Love: Love Letters (C3)
Love Letters is part of a series that was meant to be decorative. It shows a pair of lovers sitting
together, reading love letters to one another. They rest on a large circular piece of architecture
in the center of the painting. To the right of them, is a sculpture of Venus and Cupid on a tall
base. Beneath the sculpture is flowers and the ladys umbrella. In the foreground by their feet
are flowers, and right by the place they sit is a dog. Dogs are often used as a symbol for loyalty
and faithfulness; it could be that Fragonard placed the dog there to symbolize the faithfulness
of the couples love for one another. In the background behind the couple are trees and a
cloudy sky. The trees are in placed so that the clearing behind them is shaped roughly into a
heart.
Landscape with a Passing Shower (C4)
The sky in this painting fills over half of the canvas with clouds and atmosphere, as Fragonard
shows a landscape during a rain shower. The foreground of the image is rendered in great
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detail, while the middle ground and background are in less defined due to the atmospheric
effects of the storm on the landscape. The figures are set in the foreground and are tiny
compared to everything else. The tones of the foliage and the overall composition are
reminiscent of Dutch landscape painting.
Vernet
Claude-Joseph Vernet was part of a family of artists. His father, son, and grandson were all
artists as well. In his time, Vernet was both praised and criticized for his art work. The name
Poussin was brandied about as a way to either praise or shame an artist and his work, and
Vernets contemporaries used the deceased artists name in both manners when describing his
art. He was praised by Diderot, who thought him the equal of Chardin (Levey); however, his
critics would demand that his landscapes were approached in a more serious manner with a
greater grandeur. During his career, he went to Italy for long stretches of time. He also worked
in several different manners during his career, from topographical to picturesque landscapes
and seascapes, drawing inspiration from several artists including Lorraine and Rosa. (Conisbee)
He was commissioned in 1746 to paint a series of eight paintings for the Marquis de Villet, two
of which were to be in the style of Rosa. (Conisbee) Vernet was also commissioned to paint the
ports of France, and though he did not complete it, Vernet produced 15 pieces, which were
exhibited in the Salons between the years of 1755-1765. (Website d)
La Rochelle Harbour (C5)
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The harbour is bathed in the golden yellow of the sun; its tranquil waters are surrounded by
buildings. There are a few figures in the foreground, but it is a quiet gathering and not the
crowded port that one would think of when thinking of a port scene. There are trees to one
side of the painting, mingled in with the buildings, and across the harbor there is nothing but
buildings, some appear to have been built right on the water and some were set back behind
docks. In the background, there are two large buildings at the entrance to the harbour. The sky
takes up over half of the image. It is laden with bright yellow and white clouds, kissed by the
light of the sun in this Italianate composition.
Entrance to the Port of Palermo in the Moonlight (C6)
A full moon lights the image in this nocturne, the only other source of light comes from a red
fire in the foreground that contrasts with the overall tone of the image. Most of the figures
huddle around the fire in the foreground, though there are some that stray to the water side.
Buildings are in the middle ground, though they are only seen as silhouettes in the image,
hidden by the dark of the night. Surrounding the moon are clouds that fade are lit by its light
and fade into shadow as they get closer to the foreground. Ships are in the harbour, under the
light of the moon, in the middle ground and background, and the water is calm, but there is a
gentle ripple that distorts the reflection of the moon in it. Off in the distance is a tower,
perhaps a light house, its light not easily distinguishable from the light of the full moon.
19th
Century
At the turn of the century, the artist Valenciennces published a treatise on landscape painting.
He pushed and succeeded in getting a special Prix de Rome prize started with the Academy in
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1817, and was an inspiration to artists that were involved in the Barbizon School and
Impressionism. (Wintermute) It was in this time that the status of landscape painting rose,
despite what the Academy had to say, and the number of treatise on landscape painting
multiplied in France. Artists were starting to paint whatever they wanted, and the Academy had
less of a presence in the world of art as the century progressed.
Corot
Corot began to study art by taking night classes in drawing at the Academie Suisse, between the
years of 1812-14, and his parents sent him to Rome to study art there. However he did not
study ancient art and ruins as other artists did. Instead, he was more interested in the city and
landscapes, as well as light and shadow. (Guffey) When he would paint landscapes, he would
make sketches in situ and paint them elsewhere, altering them so that he could get them into
the Salon. For example, he would add figures, change the coloring, and add additional objects
into the scene. Some of his landscapes would become history paintings because of the figures
he added and the titles he would give them; one of which was Homer and the Shepherds (D1),
which quoted figures in a David painting. (Guffey) As a result of his changing his composition to
suit the tastes of the Salon, he became an awarded and accomplished artist, receiving the two
Salon Medals, one each in 1833 and 1838, the Legion of Honor in 1846 and first place at the
Universal Exposition in 1855. (Champa) He did also paint landscapes that were true to life,
painting exactly what he saw in the places that he had sketched, and as a result they looked
more natural than the paintings he made alterations to.
Fontainebleau: Oak Trees at Bas-Brau (D2)
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The earth and sky both look as though they were very quickly rendered in this painting. The dirt
and rocks look as though they were done with a palette knife instead of a brush, and while the
sky looks more finished than the ground, it too looks like it may have been done the same way
in part. The clouds look realistically, and the trees are in greater detail, highlighting their
importance in the painting. The trees are in crisp detail compared to the rest of the painting. It
is as though Corot zoomed in on the trees and left everything else out of focus.
Waterfall at Terni (D3)
Nothing in the painting looks as though it were rendered in crisp detail. Even the ledge on
which the viewer sits has the presence of the artists rapid brush strokes. The rocks that the
waterfall flows off of look to have been done in several quick brush strokes loaded with paint.
The waterfall itself looks to be so rapid and thick that it is as white as milk. It is unusual, the
water being surrounded by browns and greens for it to barely have any of the color reflected in
it. The trees and brush in the middle ground blocks most of the background, save for the hills
and sky that peek out from behind them.
Courbet
In his painting, Studio of a Painter (D4), Gustave Courbet surrounds himself with symbols of his
career to that point, but he is not painting any of them. Instead, in the center of the painting,
he shows himself painting a landscape, identifying himself as a landscape painter. (Morton)
Moreover, his technique was forward thinking, in that he skipped all the prep work and
composed directly onto his canvases, either on site or in his studio. Not only did he refuse to
paint what he could not see, he also has been quoted that one must paint the landyou know,
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that you could not just paint anywhere, but you had to have a connection to the land to be able
to paint in properly. (Morton) In his most prolific years of work, he had gone back to his
hometown and painted landscapes there, including the Source of the Loue series (D5). Courbet
was fortunate enough to have a private patron, Alfred Bruyas, who shared his ideals and was
willing to fund Courbet in his ambitions, because unfortunately, Courbets work was not well
received by the French Academy or the Salon jury, and in response to the Salon not selecting
Studio of a Painter, Courbet organized his own exhibitions to show all of his work, which was an
innovation in his time because most artists relied on the Salon to be seen and to sell art.
(website a) He called it "The Pavilion of Realism". Despite ill will toward him by the
establishment, his seascapes garnered him great attention due to their visual power and
pictorial innovation (Morton) Two of his seascapes The Stormy Sea (D6), and The cliff at
Etretat after the storm (D7) were shown at the 1870 Salon to great praise. (website a)
Calm Sea (D8)
A sky full of fluffy white clouds fills about three quarters of the image. The sea and the beach
are at the very bottom of the image. In the foreground, the beach is tan color, and two boats
are on it with water left behind from the last high tide. From the middle ground to the
background is the ocean. Ships are set in the background, barely visible by the horizon line.
View of Ornans (D9)
In a peaceful valley, beside the Loue sits the village of Ornans. Courbet decided to paint his
home town at a distance, placing it in the middle ground. Surrounding the town and the river
are the lush greens of the trees and other foliage of the valley. In the background on of two
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large hills are rocky outcroppings, and in the foreground is a bridge crossing the Loue with trees
flanking it on either side. To the left of the bridge is a small house, that is most obscured by
trees. It appears to the viewers eyes that the painting was created while standing in the middle
of the river, making one wonder if Courbet actually did paint it standing in the river, or if there
was a second bridge that he was able to use.
Monet
Monets father paid for him to have art lessons, though he had preferred to sketch out-of-
doors. He was encouraged to do so by Boudin, and is invited to paint with him. (Guffey) He also
studied in Paris, at the Academie Suisse, and became part of the studio of Gleyre in Paris, where
he met Renior, Sisley, and Bazille (website B). They would be the core of his Impressionist
group, and they would exhibit together in a building owned by Nadar. Of the group of artists
that he was associated with, Monet was the only one to paint finished pieces out-of-doors. It
was not common practice to work in this fashion, and while some artists would sketch studies
on location, they would take their studies back to their studios to make the final product.
Monet would also work on pre-made canvases, which was a new product in the nineteenth
century, and he would paint either directly onto the canvas or slightly tint it in pastel colors
(Guffey).
The Cliff Walk (D10)
On a cliff filled with different colored foliage, two women look out at the ocean. The ocean
extends from the foreground to the back ground, and is dotted with the white caps of the
waves and small ships that are off in the distance. The sky is a bright blue and is spotted with
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white fluffy clouds. In the foreground, the cliff overlooking the ocean looks almost like coral,
and the women look like flowers in bloom.
The Manneporte near tretat (D11)
In the center of the canvas is the manneporte, it is surrounded by sea and sky. The sea is calm
and the sky is full of white clouds with some blue peeking through. Contrasting the blue greens
of the water is the reddish browns of the cliff face. The erosion of the cliff side created a
window for the water to go through and a framing device that the artist took advantage of. The
image is closely cropped to have the manneporte fill over half of the canvas, and for the sea
and sky to almost entirely frame it.
Pissarro
Early in Pissarros career he took lessons and eventually went to the Academie Suisse, where he
would meet Monet. He was also given advice by Corot throughout his career, and is also shown
in the Salon at one point as the pupil of Corot (Champa). He has several of his works accepted
by the Salon, but is also rejected and shows his art in the Salon des Refuses as well as all eight
of the Impressionists exhibitions. He was known to paint very rapidly; his color palette and
composition were influenced by Monet, though he would experiment with his style in the
duration of his career. Pissarro was also known to take younger artists under his wing and give
them advice. He was credited as influencing Cezanne, van Gogh, and Gaugin, though Cezanne
is the artist who is most visible influenced by him.
Hoarfrost (D12)
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A lone figure is seen from behind walking down a path in a field. The field is full of autumn
colors. The trees in the painting have all lost their leaves, and there are long shadows raking
across the image, suggesting that there were trees behind the viewer that are back lit by the
sun. The sky is a light blue, with clouds on the horizon line, and there are roof tops just
beneath the horizon line peeking out as though on the other side of a hill.
Sunset, the Port of Rouen (Steamboats) (D13)
A wide ribbon of water separates two sections of land in this horizontally orientated painting.
There are few verticals, the masts of the ships in the foreground and the steam coming from
them, as well from ships on the opposite side of the water in the middle ground of the painting.
Further behind the ships are buildings, but apart from a couple of buildings, they all appear to
have the same height forming one long roof line. Above the buildings are the sky and the
setting sun. Clouds lightly cover the sun like a hazy cloth, and turn from white to shades of red,
orange, and yellow.
van Gogh
This artist was not French by birth, but he spent most of his working life in France. According to
what sources you go to, he either sold nothing in his lifetime, or at most one painting or one
drawing. He was completely dependent upon his brother for support. When he began to paint,
he was in the Netherlands at age 30, and his palette was in a traditional tonal browns of
lowbrow Dutch art. He painted in thick layers, which was something that he would do
throughout his career. He went to France to live with his brother, and studied the work of the
Impressionists. However, that was not quite his style. His art was denser than the light and airy
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Impressionist work, his paint thicker. His work feels as though the colors were stone, and he
was sculpting the color into a composition. When he moved to the South of France, he had
wanted to start a commune for artists, though only Gauguin ended up joining him. (Because
Theo van Gogh paid for his room, board, and supplies.) The summer before Gauguin joined him
was the most prolific of his career. When Gauguin joined him, there was a friendly competition,
and they would debate their theories on art. Gauguin seems to have envied how much van
Gogh would paint, at least one painting a day, if not more. (PoA) After Gauguin left, he
voluntarily placed himself into a mental hospital. In between attacks, he would paint. At this
point in his career, it no longer mattered to him if his art sold. He painted to try and keep the
attacks at bay, and after he left the hospital, his brother had him live with Dr. Gachet, where he
would live until he allegedly committed suicide two months later. (Website c) His art, like
Cezanne, is seen as the bridge to the twentieth century, inspiring movements throughout
Europe. (Guffey)
Starry Night (D14)
The curvilinear lines of the landscape contrast with the rectilinear lines and forms of the village.
The stars and moon shine brightly in the sky, as the clouds and the night sky itself swirls about
them. The bottom cloud forms to the landscape beneath it like a tight fitting piece of clothing
colored yellow and blue. The hillside itself is in varying shades of blue, with the foliage in shades
of blue and green. The buildings of the village are mostly in the middle ground, and while some
windows are still dark, others are lit with small figures in the windows. The two strong vertical
lines are the steeple in the village and the olive tree in the foreground. The olive tree breaks
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through the horizontals of the land and provocatively through the night sky, stars dancing
about its upper branches.
Crows in a Wheat Field (D15)
Crows fly above the wheat and the path that goes through the field. The path through the
middle and to the sides in the foreground are warped and distorted, they are a reddish brown
with stripes of green framing them. The fields of wheat are golden yellow with some orange
and brown. The crows are black, and the sky above is a rich shade of blue with a couple of
clouds. The painting is almost entirely horizontally orientated, save for the path in the middle of
the field and the crows flying up into the sky.
Cezanne
Early in Cezannes career, he met the artist Pissarro. It was he that inspired the early part of
Cezannes career, becoming one of the artists that would make up the School of Pontoise after
the Impressionists went their separate ways. Cezanne had more of a tendency to sequester
himself in his home town, and would travel to Paris to exhibit with the Impressionists. When he
had gotten some bad reviews at the exhibitions in 1874 and 1877, he reacted by spending most
of the 1880s in isolation in Aix. (Schaefer) He went through several phases in his career, but
what he is most famous for is the style he developed by working in patches and broke objects
down into basic shapes.
Mont Sainte-Victoire and the Viaduct of the Arc River Valley (D16)
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A handful of tall trees dominate the foreground. Beneath them, are shrubs and smaller pine
Beyond the trees in the middle ground and extending into the background is a patchwork of a
pasture, with a river cutting through it. In the distance, there are houses that are broken down
into simple block and triangle shapes. Before the mountain range is a bridge supported by
arches. The trees in the foreground block the view of parts of the mountain range, though the
highest peak of the mountain range can still be seen. It is a tan color, a color that is intertwined
into the rest of the painting with shades of green and brown. The sky white and light blue, as
clouds dominate most of the sky, as though a storm could start at any moment.
The Gulf of Marseilles Seen from L'Estaque (D17)
Shades of blue account for over half of the canvas, as the bay and the sky make up most of the
painting. In the background, there is a mountain range, in greys and blues, with grey green and
tan by the water. In the foreground, there is a small town by the water; it is lively full of
yellows, reddish oranges, and greens. Complimentary colors balance against one another and
the rectilinear shapes of the buildings do the same with the natural forms of the landscape
around it.
Evolution of Landscape painting
The rise to the nineteenth century appreciation of landscape painting was a slow one. Lorraine
and Poussin briefly elevated the status of landscape, but even in their own time it was
diminished in the eyes of officials. It wasnt until 1665 that there were any landscapes in the
royal collection. (Wintermute) In the eighteenth century, landscape painting was seen as the
lowest form of painting, akin to commercial painting. It wasnt seen to be as serious as other
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genres of painting and critics of artists, including Vernet was that it was not serious enough and
had demanded more serious and grander paintings from the artist. (Wintermute) Though,
toward the end of the century artists like Valenciennes would help change the perception of
landscape, inspiring artists like Corot at the beginning of the nineteenth century. In the
nineteenth century, artists began to break away from the Academy and go to other schools that
were not as formal as the Academy. Even within the Academy, there had been some changes,
pushed for by Valenciennes. By 1817, there was a Rome prize for landscape painting, and by
1820 the number of treatise on landscape painting increased dramatically. (Champa)
Stylistically, in the seventeenth century, there was not much to go on for inspiration before
Lorraine and Poussin in terms of landscape painting in France itself. Paintings, like ones by the
Le Nains had more of a Dutch or Flemish feel than they did French. Though this is the time
period were France was breaking away from the influence of other nations and formed their
own official style. It was a classical style, looking back at the classical past, though it was
through sculpture and not classical painting that most artists drew their inspiration. Lorraine
was the first to draw inspiration from actually observing nature and using it as a base to set up
his classical compositions. Vernet could be said to have brought Lorraine up to date in his time,
when he painted his landscape and seascapes. Watteau and Fragonard, on the other hand, only
referenced antiquity in their paintings, by placing classical sculpture in their art. They are both
labeled Rococo, but they do not quite fit that mold. Their loose brushwork and impressionistic
handling of landscape is part of what inspires Impressionist painters in the nineteenth century.
There was an explosion of styles in the nineteenth century; however, there was also a move
away from landscape as a backdrop for a story that took place in it. Corot and Courbet painted
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landscapes just to paint landscapes. For Courbet, it was paying homage to the land in which he
grew up in. The amount of landscape artists in the nineteenth century was also a lot more
condensed than in previous times. Artists knew each other and that helped inform their work.
Monet influences Pissarros color palette. Pissarro helped younger artists like Cezanne and van
Gogh in their careers. And Cezanne and van Gogh are considered the bridges to the twentieth
century, because their styles were more forward thinking than anything that had come before.
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Image List:
B1 Landscape with Peasants and a Chapel Le Nain
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B2 Landscape with Peasants Le Nain, c. 1640
B3 Ashes of Phocion Poussin, 1648
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B4 Blind Orion Searching for the Rising Sun Poussin, 1658
B5 The Mill Lorraine, 1631
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B6 The Roman Campagna Lorraine, c. 1639
C1 A Pilgrimage to Cythera Watteau, 1717
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C2 The View Watteau, 1714-16
C3 The Progress of Love: Love Letters Fragonard
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C4 Landscape with a Passing Shower Fragonard, 1765/1775
C5 La Rochelle harbour Vernet, 1762
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C6 Entrance to the Port of Palermo in the Moonlight Vernet, 1769
D1 Homer and the Shepherds Corot 1845
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D2 Fontainebleau: Oak Trees at Bas-Brau Corot, c.1832-33
D3 Waterfall at Terni Corot, 1826
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D4 The Artists Studio Gustave Courbet 1854-55
D5 Source of the Loue Gustave Courbet 1864
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D6 Stormy Sea (Also called The Wave) Gustave Courbet 1870
D7 The Etretat Cliffs after the Storm Gustave Courbet, 1870
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D8 Calm Sea Gustave Courbet 1869
D9 View of Ornans Gustave Courbet c. mid-1850
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D10 The Cliff Walk Monet, 1882
D11 The Manneporte near tretat Monet, 1886
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D12 Hoarfrost Pissarro, 1873
D13 Sunset, the Port of Rouen (Steamboats) Pissarro, 1898
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D14 Starry Night van Gogh, 1889
D15 Crows in a Wheat Field van Gogh, 1890
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D13 Mont Sainte-Victoire and the Viaduct of the Arc River Valley Czanne, c. 1882
The Gulf of Marseilles Seen from L'Estaque Paul Czanne, ca. 1885
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Bibliography
Allen, Christopher. French Painting in the Golden Age. New York: Thames and Hudson Inc., 2003.
Blunt, Anthony. Art and Architecture in France 1500-1700. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999.
Levey, Michael. Painting and Sculpture in France 1700-1789. New Haven: Yale University Press,
1993.Janson, H.W. 19th Century Art. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, Inc., 2005.
Morton, Mary. Courbet and the Modern Landscape. Los Angeles: Getty Publications, 2006.
McClellan, Andrew. "Watteau's Dealer: Gersaint and the Marketing of Art in Eighteenth-Century Paris".The Art Bullitin, Vol 78. No. 3.Conisbee, Philip. "Salvator Rosa and Claude-Joseph Vernet". The Burlington Magazine, Vol. 115 No. 849.Hubert, Renee Riese. "The Fleeting World of Humor from Watteau to Fragonard". Yale french StudiesNo. 23. 1959
Boulot, Catherine. "Light and Ruins: Fragonard and Hubert Robert in Rome". Master Drawings, Vol. 29,
No. 4.
Greenberg, Susan D. "Teaching with Corot". Yale University Gallery Bulletin.
Levine, Steven Z. "Seascape of the Sublime: Vernet, Monet, and the Oceanic Feeling". New LiteraryHistory, Vol. 16, No. 2.
Rex, Walter E. "The Landscape Demythologized: From Poussin's Serpents to Fenelon's "Shades," andDiderot's Ghost. Eighteenth-Century Studies 30.4.Gustave Courbet (1819-1877): A Biography, http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/courbet-dossier/biography.htmlMonet, Claude,http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/monet/
Vincent van Gogh: Biography,http://www.vangoghgallery.com/misc/bio.htmlClaude-Joseph Vernet,http://www.gegoux.com/JosephVernet/VernetBio(page3).htmGustave Courbet . Romain Goupil.DVD. 2007.Power of Art: Vincent van Gogh. Simon Schama. DVD. 2006.
http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/monet/http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/monet/http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/monet/http://www.vangoghgallery.com/misc/bio.htmlhttp://www.vangoghgallery.com/misc/bio.htmlhttp://www.vangoghgallery.com/misc/bio.htmlhttp://www.gegoux.com/JosephVernet/VernetBio(page3).htmhttp://www.gegoux.com/JosephVernet/VernetBio(page3).htmhttp://www.gegoux.com/JosephVernet/VernetBio(page3).htmhttp://www.gegoux.com/JosephVernet/VernetBio(page3).htmhttp://www.vangoghgallery.com/misc/bio.htmlhttp://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/monet/ -
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