Artwork Page for Waterfall between Chiavenna and Mount Splügen

Details / Information for Waterfall between Chiavenna and Mount Splügen

Waterfall between Chiavenna and Mount Splügen

1784

Francis Towne

(British, 1739/40–1816)
Culture
England, 18th century
Medium
watercolor with graphite, point of brushwork, and selective glazing
Measurements
Sheet: 47.3 x 56.8 cm (18 5/8 x 22 3/8 in.)
Credit Line
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 2012.35
Public Domain
You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.
Location
Not on view
Print
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Did You Know?

This drawing once belonged to Paul Oppé, one of Britain's most esteemed art historians and a legendary authority on English drawings.

Description

Francis Towne spent a year painting the architectural wonders of Rome and its environs on what was to be his only trip to the Continent. On the journey back to England, he traveled over the Alps, visiting the Italian Lakes, crossing over the Splügen Pass into Switzerland, finally arriving in Geneva. His distinctive style, characterized by an austere simplicity of vision, found its fullest expression in his Alpine views, described by one scholar as "unquestionably among the greatest by any 18th-century artist of mountain scenery." Against the earth tones of the brooding cliffs, the crash of the waterfall is like a white explosion.
A vertically oriented hanging scroll depicts a landscape with undulating cliffs defined by dense clusters of gray brushstrokes. A white waterfall cascades into a rushing river. Near the center, a wooden bridge is approached by two small figures, one on horseback. Muted browns and grays dominate the foreground, while jagged mountains are shrouded in hazy white clouds. Brief brushstrokes convey trees scattered across the rocky, orange-brown terrain.

Waterfall between Chiavenna and Mount Splügen

1784

Francis Towne

(British, 1739/40–1816)
England, 18th century

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