Antoine Chintreuil, 'House on the cliffs near Fécamp', probably 1861
About the work
Overview
Fécamp is a fishing town on a part of the Normandy coast known for its high limestone cliffs. Chintreuil visited the area in 1861 and painted a number of open air oil studies on paper, including this one, which was later stuck down on canvas. Pinpricks in each corner of the paper suggest it was painted on site.
The vertical format is rather unusual for a landscape, but it allows Chintreuil to focus on the structure of the rocky coastline, from which the small houses seem to emerge. The very high horizon prefigures a compositional device used by Pissarro and Cezanne.
Chintreuil studied in the studio of Delaroche from 1842, but it was Corot, whom he met the following year, who encouraged him to paint outdoors. Normandy was a popular painting location for artists including Boudin and Impressionist painters, such as Monet, who had been working there since the mid-1850s. Although not an Impressionist, Chintreuil was similarly interested in capturing light and atmosphere.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- House on the cliffs near Fécamp
- Artist
- Antoine Chintreuil
- Artist dates
- 1814 - 1873
- Date made
- probably 1861
- Medium and support
- oil on paper, mounted on canvas
- Dimensions
- 41 × 31.7 cm
- Inscription summary
- Signed
- Acquisition credit
- Bought by the Tate Gallery, 1928; transferred, 1956
- Inventory number
- NG4382
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
Provenance
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Martin Davies, with additions and some revisions by Cecil Gould, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: French School: Early 19th Century, Impressionists, Post-Impressionists, etc.’, London 1970; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Exhibition history
-
2009Corot to Monet: A Fresh Look at Landscape from the CollectionThe National Gallery (London)8 July 2009 - 20 September 2009
Bibliography
-
1957Martin Davies, National Gallery Catalogues: French School, 2nd edn (revised), London 1957
-
1970Davies, Martin, and Cecil Gould, National Gallery Catalogues: French School: Early 19th Century, Impressionists, Post-Impressionists etc., London 1970
-
2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.