Lot Essay
Painted circa 1840-1841.
Annie-Paule Quinsac, in a letter of May 3, 1995 writes, "...The scenery is without doubt that of the Roman campagna...the background is obviously a composed scene, which she must have created from her studies of classical landscapes as she would have observed them in the paintings of Nicolas Poussin and Léopold Robert...She however interpreted it in a fully realist vein, as if after her first presentation at the Salon in 1841, inspired by the Barbizon painters, she consciously turned her back to classical landscape to move toward a direct approach to nature and topographical references to French sites. The animals, on the contrary, have been observed from nature and reflect her early mastery of the subject."
We are grateful to Professor Annie-Paule Quinsac for her assistance in preparing this catalogue entry.
Annie-Paule Quinsac, in a letter of May 3, 1995 writes, "...The scenery is without doubt that of the Roman campagna...the background is obviously a composed scene, which she must have created from her studies of classical landscapes as she would have observed them in the paintings of Nicolas Poussin and Léopold Robert...She however interpreted it in a fully realist vein, as if after her first presentation at the Salon in 1841, inspired by the Barbizon painters, she consciously turned her back to classical landscape to move toward a direct approach to nature and topographical references to French sites. The animals, on the contrary, have been observed from nature and reflect her early mastery of the subject."
We are grateful to Professor Annie-Paule Quinsac for her assistance in preparing this catalogue entry.