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Style of Gustave Courbet, 'The Pool', probably 1870-80

Key facts
Full title The Pool
Artist Style of Gustave Courbet
Artist dates 1819 - 1877
Date made probably 1870-80
Medium and support oil on canvas
Dimensions 72.4 × 58.7 cm
Inscription summary Signed
Acquisition credit Sir Hugh Lane Bequest, 1917, The National Gallery, London. In partnership with Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin.
Inventory number NG3243
Location On loan: Long Loan to The Hugh Lane (2019 - 2031), Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane, Dublin, Ireland
Collection Main Collection
The Pool
Style of Gustave Courbet
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In July 1873 Courbet fled France for Switzerland and settled in the town of La Tour-de-Peilz on the north shore of Lac Léman (Lake Geneva), near the French border. A label on the back of this view of a lush Alpine valley gives the location as Vevey, on the north shore of the lake and close to La Tour-de-Peilz. It has also been suggested that the view may be in the upper part of the Gorges de Chauderon, above Montreux, which is further east along the shore.

Although Courbet painted a number of views of the lake and its surroundings, he did not paint this picture. It was instead painted by an assistant, not as a copy of a Courbet but as an independent picture that belongs to a substantial group of Swiss landscapes painted in the style of Courbet. Although it is sometimes possible to identify the assistant who produced a painting, it is not yet possible in this case.

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