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Panoramic View of the Alps, Les Dents du Midi

Gustave Courbet1877

The Cleveland Museum of Art

The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States

Courbet was still working on this large landscape, intended for the Paris Universal Exposition of 1879, when he died in December 1877. He painted it during his exile in Switzerland, where he had fled after being condemned for subversive activities in the Paris Commune of 1871. The view looks south over Lake Geneva toward the mountains called Les Dents du Midi. While some areas are heavily worked with a palette knife, the lower right remains unfinished.

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  • Title: Panoramic View of the Alps, Les Dents du Midi
  • Creator: Gustave Courbet (French, 1819–1877)
  • Date Created: 1877
  • Physical Dimensions: Framed: 172 x 230 x 8.5 cm (67 11/16 x 90 9/16 x 3 3/8 in.); Unframed: 151.2 x 210.2 cm (59 1/2 x 82 3/4 in.)
  • Provenance: Juliette Courbet [1831-1915], sister of the artist, by descent to Mmes de Tastes and Lapierre, Mmes de Tastes and Lapierre, (Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, France, July 9, 1919 (lot 12), La Dent du Midi, sold to Galerie Barbazanges), (Galerie Barbazanges, Paris, France), Mrs. Hennet Collection, Paris, France, Private collection, Paris, France, (Hirschl & Adler, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Type: Painting
  • Rights: CC0
  • External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/1964.420
  • Medium: oil on fabric
  • Fun Fact: This late, unfinished painting reveals some of Courbet's techniques. At the top of the mountains you can see how different brushstrokes and thickly applied paint were used to differentiate the texture of the clouds from the snow.
  • Department: Modern European Painting and Sculpture
  • Culture: France, 19th century
  • Credit Line: John L. Severance Fund and various donors by exchange
  • Collection: Mod Euro - Painting 1800-1960
  • Accession Number: 1964.420
The Cleveland Museum of Art

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