I. Painting in Nature

1. Richard Wilson Penegoes 1713/14 – 1782 Colomendy A pioneer of British landscape painting, the Welshman Richard Wilson began his career as a portraitist, and it was only during the years he spent in Italy from 1750-57 that he changed course. In Rome, he befriended the renowned French landscapist Claude Joseph Vernet (1714–1789), who probably (…)
2. Fleury François Richard (Fleury-Richard) Lyon 1777 – 1852 Écully, Rhône Fleury-Richard was a pupil of David and an exponent of the style troubadour, a genre of historical painting featuring idealised Medieval and Renaissance subjects. Accordingly, the figures who populate this view of the Arena of Nîmes are dressed in early sixteenth-century costume. He includes an (…)
3. Théodore Caruelle d’Aligny Chaumes 1798 – 1871 Lyon Caruelle d’Aligny trained under Louis Étienne Watelet (1780–1866) and Jean-Victor Bertin (1767–1842), both pupils of the celebrated Pierre-Henri de Valenciennes. He worked out-of-doors in the outskirts of Paris and the forest of Fontainebleau, and further developed the technique during the five (…)
4. Jules Coignet Paris 1798 – 1860 Paris Another pupil of Jean-Victor Bertin, Jules Coignet was an indefatigable traveller, and painted a large number of landscape oil sketches in France, Switzerland, Egypt, Greece, Asia Minor and above all Italy. This view painted in the South-Tyrol is both an open-air study and a document of the (…)
5. Louise-Joséphine Sarazin de Belmont Versailles 1790 – 1870 Paris Sarazin de Belmont is exceptional among the women artists of her time in devoting herself to landscape. Barred from attending the École des Beaux-Arts because of her gender, she trained in the private studio of Valenciennes, displaying her talent for the genre from an early age. She exhibited at (…)
6. Paint Box of Camille Corot Paris 1796 – 1875 Paris This paint box was bequeathed to the Kunstmuseum in The Hague by the Dutch artist Matthijs Maris (1839–1917) who was a great admirer of Corot. He bought the master’s paint box at his estate sale in Paris in May 1875, three months after the artist’s death. In the lid of the box, which seemingly (…)
7. Edme-Adolphe Fontaine Noisy-le-Grand 1814 – 1883 Versailles Edme-Adolphe Fontaine was a pupil of Léon Cogniet (1794–1880), and worked with him on the decorative scheme for the Madeleine Church in Paris. He later became professor of drawing at the military academy of Saint-Cyr, and specialised in portraits and history painting, often of military subjects. (…)
8. Eugène Decan Paris 1829 – 1893 Paris According to Corot, before painting a landscape, one must “savoir s’asseoir” (know how to sit), carefully selecting and framing a motif, and finding the right conditions to observe and study nature. Here, the scene which captured Corot’s attention is hidden from sight, yet it is easy to (…)
9. André Giroux Paris 1801 – 1879 Paris André Giroux was an early practitioner of landscape photography as well as a painter. He initially trained with his father, who had studied under David and owned a successful business selling artist supplies. After attending the École des Beaux-Arts, Giroux won the Prix de Rome for paysage (…)
10. André Giroux Paris 1801 – 1879 Paris André Giroux was an early practitioner of landscape photography as well as a painter. He initially trained with his father, who had studied under David and owned a successful business selling artist supplies. After attending the École des Beaux-Arts, Giroux won the Prix de Rome for paysage (…)