Claude LorrainFrench, 1600–1682Landscape with a Draftsman
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Not receiving at present
Minneapolis Institute of Art
Minneapolis, United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the work
Claude Lorrain was born in the Duchy of Lorrain in modern-day France, but he pursued his artistic career in Rome, where he became the most sought-after landscape painter of his time. He was also active as a printmaker and prolific as a draftsman. He and fellow artists made frequent trips into the countryside to study the terrain, plants, animals, people, and perhaps most of all, the atmospheric light that suffused the whole with romantic magic. In the lower left corner of this etching, we see an artist engaged in making just such observations as two companions look on. Claude presents us with grist for our imaginations as travelers pass to and from the great stone seaside port, and we also see past the far side of the bay, out to the distant horizon.
Minneapolis Institute of Art
Particulars
- Accession number
- 2013.26.6
In the catalog
Sources
- Minneapolis Institute of Art
- Image: Minneapolis Institute of Art — public domain
Meanwhile, in the life of Claude Lorrain
The whole life1635–1638
Pope Urban VIII commissions four paintings
According to Baldinucci, Cardinal Guido Bentivoglio, impressed by the two landscapes Claude painted for him, recommended the artist to Pope Urban VIII; four paintings were made for the Pope in 1635–38, two large and two small on copper.
1637
The French ambassador buys two paintings
In 1637 the French ambassador to the Vatican bought two paintings from Claude, “View of the Roman Forum” and “View of a Port with the Capitol”, which are now in the Louvre.
late 1630s
Italy’s leading landscapist, with large fees
By the end of the 1630s Claude was established as the leading landscapist in Italy and enjoyed large fees; his landscapes gradually became larger but with fewer figures, more carefully painted and produced at a lower rate.
1639
Philip IV commissions seven paintings
In 1639 Philip IV of Spain commissioned seven paintings from Claude, now in the Prado, among them two landscapes with hermits.
1642
Gives up etching for painting
Claude was a skilful etcher but gave up etching for good in 1642, choosing painting.
