The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 19, 2025

Waterfall between Chiavenna and Mount Splügen

1784
(British, 1739/40–1816)
England, 18th century
watercolor with graphite, point of brushwork, and selective glazing
Sheet: 47.3 x 56.8 cm (18 5/8 x 22 3/8 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 2012.35
Location: not on view

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.
  • ?-?
    Lord Redesdale
    1919
    (sale, Bruton Knowles & Co., May 2, 1919, no. 629)
    after 1919-before 1982
    Adolph Paul Oppé [1878-1957], London, by descent
    1982
    (sale, Sotheby's, London, November 11, 1982, no. 59)
    after 1982-before 2006
    (Morton-Morris and Co., London)
    before 2006-before 2012
    Joseph and Deborah Goldyne, San Francisco, CA
    after 2006-by 2012
    (Addison Fine Arts, San Francisco, CA, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH)
    2012-
    Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Oppé, A. P. "Francis Towne, Landscape Painter." Walpole Society 8 (1920). Mentioned: p. 122
    Exhibition of Works from the Paul Oppé Collection; English Watercolours and Old Master Drawings. Exh. Cat. London: Royal Academy, 1958. Mentioned: no. 58
    Bury, Adrian. Francis Towne: Lone Star of Water-Colour Painting. London: C. Skilton, 1962. Mentioned: pp. 88, 145
    Wilcox, Timothy. Francis Towne. Exh. Cat. London: Tate Gallery, 1997. Mentioned: p. 133
    Johnson, Robert Flynn and Joseph R. Goldyne. Judging by Appearance: Master Drawings from the Collection of Joseph and Deborah Goldyne. Exh. Cat. San Francisco: Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 2006. Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 140-41, no. 62
    Lemonedes, Heather. British Drawings: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Exh. Cat. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2013. Mentioned: pp. 36-37, 149, no. 8; Reproduced: p. 37
    Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 53 no. 02, March/April 2013 Mentioned & reproduced: p. 18 archive.org
  • British Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art . The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 10-May 26, 2013).
    Judging by Appearances: Master Drawings from the Collection of Joseph and Deborah Goldyne. Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (March 4 - June 4, 2006).
    The Paul Oppé Collection of English Watercolours and Old Master Drawings. Royal Academy of Arts, London (1958).
  • {{cite web|title=Waterfall between Chiavenna and Mount Splügen|url=false|author=Francis Towne|year=1784|access-date=19 March 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2012.35