Description
Albert Rouen was known for his work in charcoal, the medium used for this drawing. It likely depicts a scene from his native Rouen, a port city in northern France. He examined the city and provincial life around it frequently in his works. Here, four horses pull a carriage before a bridge, likely along the banks of the Seine River.
Provenance
(Shepherd Gallery, New York, sold to Mrs. Muriel Butkin) (1977); Mrs. Muriel Butkin, Shaker Heights, OH (1977-2008); estate of Mrs. Muriel Butkin, by bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art (2008-2015); Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (2015-)
Accession Number
2015.449
Medium
black and white chalk with stumping on beige wove paper
Dimensions
Sheet: 33.2 x 49.7 cm (13 1/16 x 19 9/16 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Credit Line
Bequest of Muriel Butkin
Tags
Drawing Impressionist & Modern (1851–1900) Paper French
Background & Context
Background Story
Albert-Charles Lebourg (1849-1928) was a French painter known for the atmospheric, precisely observed landscape paintings that make him one of the most accomplished painters of the French Impressionist tradition. A Miller's Carriage from c. 1895 depicts a miller's carriage in the atmospheric, precisely observed manner that distinguishes Lebourg's best work from the more general landscape painting of his contemporaries. Lebourg was known for his atmospheric, precisely observed landscapes of the French countryside, and the c. 1895 date places this in his most productive period, when he was producing the atmospheric landscapes that are his most accomplished works.
Cultural Impact
A Miller's Carriage is important in the history of French landscape painting because it demonstrates the atmospheric, precisely observed manner that Lebourg brought to landscape as one of the most accomplished painters of the French Impressionist tradition. Lebourg's atmospheric, precisely observed landscapes—combining the atmospheric effect of the French countryside with the precise observation that is his most distinctive contribution—represent one of the most accomplished traditions in French Impressionist landscape painting, and the c. 1895 painting shows this tradition at its most atmospheric.
Why It Matters
A Miller's Carriage is Lebourg's atmospheric Impressionist landscape: a miller's carriage rendered in the precisely observed manner of one of the most accomplished painters of the French Impressionist tradition. The c. 1895 painting shows the atmospheric effect and precise observation that make Lebourg one of the most accomplished Impressionist landscape painters.
