Theodore Rousseau

A Landscape in the Auvergne

Auvergne, France, 1830

Oil on paper, laid on canvas

33 x 42.2 cm

This landscape was painted directly from nature in the summer of 1830.

The young artist reacted against his narrow academic training by travelling to the mountainous Auvergne region.  Here Rousseau sought out rugged views, such as this rocky outcrop, which lacked any obvious picturesque interest. The artist painted quickly in oils on a piece of paper, using a richly textured pigment to delineate the rocks.  Such studies were increasingly produced as exercises in their own right, part of young landscapists’ self-education.

Purchased 1960 (No.60.12)