Under a stormy sunset sky a distant range of mountains is strung out along the horizon. In the foreground a figure stands at the edge of what is possibly an expanse of water. This view was probably painted in 1844, when Rousseau travelled with Jules-Louis Dupré to the Landes, a region south of Bordeaux, and it is probably the Pyrenees that are depicted in the distance.
The sky is thickly painted with multiple layers of blues, greys and pinks, and broad brushstrokes have been used to bring the sky paint down over the mountains, in some cases obscuring their outlines. This thick application of paint and rigorous brushwork is typical of Rousseau’s technique in the 1840s. The scene is painted on top of an earlier composition, some of which is visible to the naked eye through thinner areas of paint. At the bottom right, for example, you can see a round bucket or barrel.
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Sarah Herring, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Nineteenth Century French Paintings’, vol. 1, ‘The Barbizon School’, London 2019; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
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