The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 19, 2024
A Selection of Twenty of the Most Picturesque Views in Paris: View of Pont de la Tournelle & Notre Dame taken from the Arsenal
1802
(British, 1775–1802)
aquatint by
(British, 1779–1856)
Sheet: 19.9 x 48.7 cm (7 13/16 x 19 3/16 in.); Image: 15.1 x 44.5 cm (5 15/16 x 17 1/2 in.)
Gift of John Bonebrake 2006.243
Catalogue raisonné: Abbey 102, 11 without letters
Location: not on view
Description
Girtin, along with his rival J. M. W. Turner, extended the technical possibilities of watercolor and in doing so demonstrated that watercolors could have the visual impact of oils. His reduction of landscape to simple and monumental forms, his panoramic compositions, and his sensitivity to natural effects, such as cloud formations, influenced subsequent generations of watercolor painters. Anxious to take advantage of the Peace of Amiens (October 1, 1801), Girtin went to Paris to see the artistic treasures brought back from Italy by Napoleon and installed in the Louvre. He made graphite sketches of the city and its environs and upon his return to London made etchings based on his drawings. Girtin died of tuberculosis shortly thereafter, and the series was published by his widow and brother.- {{cite web|title=A Selection of Twenty of the Most Picturesque Views in Paris: View of Pont de la Tournelle & Notre Dame taken from the Arsenal|url=false|author=Thomas Girtin, Frederick Christian Lewis|year=1802|access-date=19 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2006.243