The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 18, 2025

Châteauvieux-sur-Suran

1848

Antoine-Claude Ponthus-Cinier

(French, 1812–1885)
France, 19th century
oil on paper mounted on fabric
Unframed: 53.3 x 75.1 cm (21 x 29 9/16 in.)
Bequest of Noah L. Butkin 1980.251
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

The son of a merchant, Ponthus-Cinier was one of the principle artists of the School of Lyon and painted neoclassical views of the countryside around Lyon and the Alpine region near the Swiss border.

Description

This view of a ruined building on a rocky cliff in Châteauvieux above the Suran river in the French Alps is constructed in the manner of a classical or ideal landscape. Forms recede at a measured pace along a sinuous, curving path that passes through carefully defined planes of fore, middle, and background. The warm, glowing light and imaginary figures pursuing their daily tasks contribute to the mood of timeless, pastoral bliss.
  • -1977
    London sale, Sotheby's, 20 July 1977 (lot 142, repr.), as Théodore Caruelle d'Aligny, An Italian Landscape.
    1977
    (Shepherd Gallery, New York, NY, sold to Noah L. Butkin)
    1977-1980
    Noah L. Butkin [1918-1980], Shaker Heights, OH by bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1980-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1980.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 68, no. 6 (June 1981): 163–219. Published as: Attributed to Theodore Caruelle d'Aligny Mentioned: p. 211, no. 20 www.jstor.org
    Argencourt, Louise d', and Roger Diederen. Catalogue of Paintings. Pt. 4. European Paintings of the 19th Century. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1974. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 497-499, Vol. II, no. 173
  • Stories from Storage. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 7-May 16, 2021).
    Year in Review: 1980. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (June 24-July 19, 1981).
    Montpellier, La Salle des Concerts. Livret explicatif des ouvrages de peinture, sculpture, dessin et lithographie (1849), no. 27, Cinier (Ponthus) Vue du Château vieux, sur les bords du Suran (Ain.).
  • {{cite web|title=Châteauvieux-sur-Suran|url=false|author=Antoine-Claude Ponthus-Cinier|year=1848|access-date=18 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1980.251