Minneapolis Institute of Art

Woman Seated at the Edge of a Pond

Adolphe Appian

Date

1865

Medium

Charcoal and wash with stumping and scratching

Department

European Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Adolph Appian was a major figure in the great French tradition of landscape draftsmanship. This is an unusually free drawing from an artist normally known for his tight control. Note the brushstrokes of liquid wash that seem to dance over the surface of the image without being fully integrated into the smooth tonal transitions that characterize Appian’s handling of the soft, smudgeable charcoal. Appian’s drawings are often melancholy, as is the case here. The woman who sits by the water is possibly his wife, who often accompanied him on his outings to draw in nature. France

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