Artwork Page for Shepherds in a Landscape

Details / Information for Shepherds in a Landscape

Shepherds in a Landscape

1779

Jean Baptiste Pillement

(French, 1728–1808)
Culture
France, 18th century
Medium
pastel
Support
Fabric
Measurements
Unframed: 46.3 x 60.5 cm (18 1/4 x 23 13/16 in.)
Credit Line
Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund 1973.1
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print

Description

The exquisite handling of the pastel, crisp and colorful in the foreground while of the greatest subtlety in the atmospheric distance, bears out Pillement's reputation as the best 18th-century French artist of the pastel landscape. Landscapes in this period were most often picturesque creations, rather than literal transcriptions of nature. In this dramatically irregular countryside, shepherds, flocks, and rustic buildings create an air of idealized rural charm.
A horizontally oriented pastel drawing depicts a pastoral landscape where a woman and a seated person with light skin tones tend sheep on a rocky ridge. A spindly tree with reddish-brown leaves dominates the right foreground. Below, water flows past jagged gray rocks. To the left, a dark cave marks a grassy hillside near a stone building. Muted blue-gray mountains recede beneath a hazy sky that fills the upper half of the composition.

Shepherds in a Landscape

1779

Jean Baptiste Pillement

(French, 1728–1808)
France, 18th century

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