Cleveland Museum of Art

Châteauvieux-sur-Suran

Date

1848

Medium

oil on paper mounted on fabric

Culture

France, 19th century

Department

Modern European Painting and Sculpture

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This view of a ruined building on a rocky cliff in Châteauvieux above the Suran river in the French Alps is constructed in the manner of a classical or ideal landscape. Forms recede at a measured pace along a sinuous, curving path that passes through carefully defined planes of fore, middle, and background. The warm, glowing light and imaginary figures pursuing their daily tasks contribute to the mood of timeless, pastoral bliss. The son of a merchant, Ponthus-Cinier was one of the principle artists of the School of Lyon and painted neoclassical views of the countryside around Lyon and the Alpine region near the Swiss border.

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