The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 31, 2023

View of the Château of Pierrefonds

c. 1870

François-Louis Français

(French, 1814–1897)

France, 19th century

Pen and black ink, brush and black and gray wash, and graphite, heightened with white gouache

Support: Green-beige laid paper

Sheet: 42.2 x 56.2 cm (16 5/8 x 22 1/8 in.); Matted: 54.6 x 67.3 cm (21 1/2 x 26 1/2 in.)

Bequest of Muriel Butkin 2008.380

Location

not on view

Description

This lush landscape shows the château of Pierrefonds in the distance framed by flourishing foliage in the foreground. The picture depicts the château from the same viewpoint as in a painting by Camille Corot (see photo), an artist who significantly influenced Français. (Corot is represented in the exhibition by a charcoal drawing [cat. no. 45] hanging nearby.) Corot's picture of Pierrefonds shows the château in ruins, whereas the pristine condition of the building in Français's view indicates that his drawing dates after the château's extensive restoration by the architect Viollet-le-Duc in 1870.

Inscriptions

Inscription

verso, center, in graphite: 12 [underlined]; center right, in graphite: Chateau de Pierrefonds / Clisson [crossed out]

Provenance
Estate of the artist (estate stamp [Lugt 944], lower right, in black ink); [Français studio sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris (14-15 March 1898), no. 136 (sold for 275 francs, according to annotated copy in Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles)]. [Galerie Jacques Fischer-Chantal Kiener, Paris]; purchased in 1979.
Citations
Foster, Carter E., Sylvain Bellenger, and Patrick Shaw Cable. French Master Drawings from the Collection of Muriel Butkin. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2001. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 43, p. 96-97
Exhibition history

.

French Master Drawings from the Collection of Muriel Butkin. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (August 26-October 28, 2001); Dahesh Museum of Art (February 19-May 18, 2002).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2008.380