Description
This lush landscape shows the château of Pierrefonds in the distance framed by flourishing foliage in the foreground. The picture depicts the château from the same viewpoint as in a painting by Camille Corot (see photo), an artist who significantly influenced Français. (Corot is represented in the exhibition by a charcoal drawing [cat. no. 45] hanging nearby.) Corot's picture of Pierrefonds shows the château in ruins, whereas the pristine condition of the building in Français's view indicates that his drawing dates after the château's extensive restoration by the architect Viollet-le-Duc in 1870.
Provenance
Estate of the artist (estate stamp [Lugt 944], lower right, in black ink); [Français studio sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris (14-15 March 1898), no. 136 (sold for 275 francs, according to annotated copy in Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles)]. [Galerie Jacques Fischer-Chantal Kiener, Paris]; purchased in 1979.
Accession Number
2008.380
Medium
pen and black ink, brush and black and gray wash, and graphite, heightened with white gouache
Dimensions
Sheet: 42.2 x 56.2 cm (16 5/8 x 22 1/8 in.); Matted: 54.6 x 67.3 cm (21 1/2 x 26 1/2 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Credit Line
Bequest of Muriel Butkin
Tags
Drawing Impressionist & Modern (1851–1900) Ink Graphite & Pencil Gouache French
Background & Context
Background Story
Francois-Louis Francais (1814-1897) was a French painter known for the precisely observed, atmospherically composed landscape paintings that make him one of the most accomplished landscape painters of the French tradition. View of the Chateau of Pierrefonds from c. 1870 depicts the Chateau of Pierrefonds in the precisely observed, atmospherically composed manner that distinguishes Francais' best work. The Chateau of Pierrefonds was restored by Viollet-le-Duc in the 19th century and became one of the most important examples of medieval restoration in France, and Francais' precisely observed, atmospherically composed treatment shows the French landscape tradition at its most accomplished.
Cultural Impact
View of the Chateau of Pierrefonds is important in the history of French landscape painting because it demonstrates the precisely observed, atmospherically composed manner that Francais brought to landscape painting as one of the most accomplished landscape painters of the French tradition. The Chateau of Pierrefonds—restored by Viollet-le-Duc and one of the most important examples of medieval restoration in France—was one of the most important architectural subjects in French landscape painting, and the c. 1870 painting shows this tradition at its most precisely observed.
Why It Matters
View of the Chateau of Pierrefonds is Francais' precisely observed French landscape: the chateau rendered in the atmospherically composed manner of one of the most accomplished landscape painters of the French tradition. The c. 1870 painting shows one of the most important examples of medieval restoration in France at its most precisely observed.
