By Musée des Beaux-arts
Service des Publics - Musée des Beaux-arts de Nîmes
These two large paintings deposited by the Musée de la Révolution française (French Revolution Museum) come from the former collection of the Castle of Vizille, in the Isère department of France. These are capricci, an Italian term that means completely imaginary landscapes. They depict characters in the middle of an antique decor. Painters would often insert fragments of columns, antique statues, ruins of ancient Roman temples … Ruins and antiques were very fashionable and attracted travelers and artists.
Alessandro Salucci—The Death of Dirce
The first capriccio represents the king of Thebes and his wife Dirce, killed by Zethus and Amphion, son of Zeus and the princess Antiope, who was cruelly treated. Dirce suffered a horrible death: tied by the hair to a bull's tail, her body was then thrown into a fountain.
Alessandro Salucci—Ulysses and the Enchantress Circe
The second capriccio recounts the famous episode from The Odyssey where Ulysses' companions fall under the spell of the enchantress Circe who transforms them into animals. Thanks to the advice of the god Hermes, Ulysses succeeds in outsmarting Circe's plans.
Le Rialto à Venise (18e siècle) by Antonio CANALETTOMusée des Beaux-arts
Antonio Canaletto—The Rialto Bridge in Venice
Canaletto was an 18th century Venetian painter, celebrated for his depictions of his native city. He worked outdoors and made a lot of sketches. Italy, and in particular Venice, was a central part of the Grand Tour, a journey undertaken by aspiring artists in order to train themselves.
The Rialto Bridge was the most popular place at the time. It was populated by many stalls. Canaletto illustrates scenes of daily life, his views are enlivened by figures going about their business. His attention to detail makes his paintings a testimony of his time.
He provides monumental perspectives and the sky participates in the retranscription of light effects. Canaletto used a highly scientific technique to study the precise rendering of light and perspective. He used an optical device called a camera obscura.
In the 18th century, the Venetian artists started the fashion of the veduta, an Italian term for view, coinciding with the rise of travel. These views were, to some extent, the ancestors of the postcard—more or less realistic.
A strange atmosphere pervades this rural landscape. In keeping with the Flemish tradition of the genre, this landscape is fundamentally decorative and, at the same time, expresses a troubled, almost fantastic vision.
These small panels portraying fishermen and bathers in a rocky cove are typical of Vernet's standard production, intended for his crowd of admirers eager to own a piece by the master. After a 20-year stay in Rome, where he focused on landscape painting (more specifically seascapes), which earned him an international clientele, he returned to France where he was commissioned to paint the Ports de France (Scenes of the harbors of France), which ensured his fame.
L'Orage (19e siècle) by Jules LAURENSMusée des Beaux-arts
Jules Laurens—The Storm
A versatile artist, Laurens was a draftsman, a watercolorist, a lithographer, an engraver, and a musician. After attending the Fine Arts Schools of Montpellier and Paris, he traveled to Turkey and Persia, accompanying the scientific mission of a French geographer as a painter.
A great hiking enthusiast, he made hundreds of drawings, sketches, and watercolors that nourished his art. Here, he created a romantic landscape. The sky is low, a stormy light rises over the horizon, the wind blows, the storm is looming.
Laurens' style is in line with that of the Barbizon School, which brought together artists from different backgrounds, with the aim of painting nature for its own sake, on the spot. The impressionists would later take inspiration from them and more specifically their treatment of nature.
Collines, femmes en vue de leur village (avant 1924) by Auguste CHABAUDMusée des Beaux-arts
Auguste Chabaud—Hills, Women Looking at Their Village
After attending the School of Fine Arts in Avignon, Chabaud went to Paris where the French capital inspired his industrial and urban subjects. Penniless, he boarded a cargo ship to Africa. After the light of Provence, he was dazzled by the light of the Maghreb region.
Colors and light intensified in his works, which linked him to Fauvism. After another stay in Paris, he moved to the family mas, a traditional country house in the south of France, in Graveson, which he became responsible for. Chabaud was a pioneer. According to his friend the Provençal painter René Seyssaud, he was the first of all colorists.
Femme à la guitare (1906) by Louis VALTATMusée des Beaux-arts
Louis Valtat—Woman Playing a Guitar
Initially characterized by an impressionist style, Valtat's works were later influenced by two innovative trends of the late 19th century: Divisionism and the Nabis. From 1896–97, he created bold works that foreshadowed Fauvism.
Realization: Ville de Nîmes - Musée des Beaux-Arts
Iconography: © Ville de Nîmes - Musée des Beaux-Arts
