Landscape at Saint-André, Near Marseilles

This view of a rocky landscape along the Mediterranean coast of southern France reflects the naturalist ambition of capturing exact details and atmospheric effects observed directly from life. Clear, intense light floods over the stony cliffs and the sparse greenery baked in the heat of sun. The artist, l Guigou, studied art in Marseilles and devoted most of his career to painting views of his native Provence. In 1855 he began traveling back and forth between Marseilles and Paris, where he became familiar with the paintings of Gustave Courbet and died of a stroke at age 37.