View of the Château of Pierrefonds
François-Louis Français
1865–1875
- Medium
- pen and black ink, brush and black and gray wash, and graphite, heightened with white gouache
- Dimensions
- 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.)
- Genre
- Drawing
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art
Styles
Tags
France, 19th century
About
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.
