Landscapes

most, magnificent, generous, landscapes

  • Claude Gellée, called Le Lorrain

    Claude Gellée, called Le Lorrain, 'A Landscape with a Bridge', About 1640. Museum no. CAI 1052

    Claude Gellée, called Le Lorrain (1604/5-82)
    'A Landscape with a Bridge'
    About 1640
    Pen and ink and wash
    Museum no. CAI 1052
    Bequeathed by Constantine Alexander Ionides

    Born in Lorraine, in eastern France, Claude spent most of his adult life in Rome. His paintings evoke an arcadia of myth, legend and rustic ease, all bathed in a nostalgic golden light. He also made many sketches, like this one, in the countryside around Rome. Even in Claude's lifetime these often slight drawings were much sought after by collectors.

  • Claude Gellée, called Le Lorrain Or Giovanni-Francesco Grimaldi

    Claude Gellée, called Le Lorrain Or Giovanni-Francesco Grimaldi, called Il Bolognese, 'A Study of Trees', About 1630. Museum no CAI 410

    Claude Gellée, called Le Lorrain (1604/5-82)
    Or Giovanni-Francesco Grimaldi, called Il Bolognese (1606-80)
    'A Study of Trees'About
    1630
    Pen and ink and wash
    Museum no. CAI 410
    Bequeathed by Constantine Alexander Ionides

    This attractive study, spontaneously dashed off on a scrap of rough blue paper, passed through the hands of several distinguished collectors. Bought by Ionides as a Claude, it was later attributed to Claude's contemporary, Giovanni-Francesco Grimaldi. Ionides liked drawings of gnarled trees and also owned several similar subjects by English and Dutch artists.

  • Henri Harpignies, 'The Fisherman'

    Henri Harpignies, 'The Fisherman', 1886. Museum no. CAI 115

    Henri Harpignies (1819-1916)
    'The Fisherman'
    1886
    Watercolour
    Museum no. CAI 115
    Bequeathed by Constantine Alexander Ionides

    Harpignies was regarded by many contemporaries as France's finest watercolourist. He was in business until the age of 27, but then turned late to art and continued to work until the end of his life. Ionides acquired this watercolour in 1896, at a time when he had all but given up buying paintings and drawings in favour of ceramics and decorative art.

     

  • Alphonse Legros, 'A Canal with a Fisherman'

    Alphonse Legros, 'A Canal with a Fisherman', About 1865. Museum no. CAI 26

    Alphonse Legros (1837-1911)
    'A Canal with a Fisherman'
    About 1865
    Watercolour
    Museum no. CAI 26
    Bequeathed by Constantine Alexander Ionides

    From the late 1860s, Legros was inspired by the rivers and canals around his native Dijon. The soft, indistinct quality of this watercolour, unusual in his work, conveys a powerful sense of atmosphere and depth. As early as 1868, Ionides owned several watercolours by Legros on a similarly large scale. They were among his first recorded purchases of works of art.

  • Edwin Edwards, 'Plymouth from Mount Edgcumbe'

    Edwin Edwards, 'Plymouth from Mount Edgcumbe', 1863. Museum no. CAI

    Edwin Edwards (1823-79)
    'Plymouth from Mount Edgcumbe'
    1863
    Etching
    Museum no. CAI 277
    Bequeathed by Constantine Alexander Ionides

    Edwards practised successfully as a lawyer until 1859, when at the age of 36 he retired from the profession and devoted himself to art. He was taught to etch by Legros, who probably introduced his work to Ionides. Despite its topographical promise, the real subject of this print is the trees and the patterns made by their branches against the sky.

     

  • Matthew White Ridley, 'Ships in a Dock'

    Matthew White Ridley, 'Ships in a Dock', About 1860. Museum no. CAI 284

    Matthew White Ridley (1837-88)
    'Ships in a Dock'
    About 1860
    Etching
    Museum no. CAI 284 
    Bequeathed by Constantine Alexander Ionides

    Matthew White Ridley had been a fellow-student with Whistler in Paris in 1856-7 and shared his affection for rivers and bustling docks. In England, he introduced Whistler to a little circle of etching enthusiasts which gathered at the house of Edwin Edwards. Ionides acquired many prints by members of this clique.

  • Jean François Millet, 'The Farm on the Hill'

    Jean François Millet, 'The Farm on the Hill', 1866-1867. Museum no. CAI 50

    Jean François Millet (1814-75)
    'The Farm on the Hill'
    1866-1867
    Watercolour with pen and ink
    Museum no. CAI 50
    Bequeathed by Constantine Alexander Ionides

    Pure landscape is rare in Millet's work, where the human figure normally takes centre stage. However, between 1866 and 1868 he produced many sketches of the countryside around Vichy, where he stayed during the early summer for the sake of his wife's health.

  • Jean François Millet, 'A Hilly Landscape'

    Jean François Millet, 'A Hilly Landscape', 1866-1867. Museum no. CAI 52

    Jean François Millet (1814-75)
    'A Hilly Landscape'
    1866-1867
    Watercolour with pen and ink
    Museum no. CAI 52
    Bequeathed by Constantine Alexander Ionides

    During his stays in Vichy, Millet would rent a carriage to explore the surrounding countryside, in particular the hilly uplands above Cusset. He would stop frequently to make rapid pencil drawings in small sketchbooks; watercolours such as this were worked up later. Ionides also owned four oil paintings by Millet.

  • Rembrandt van Rijn, 'The Omval

    Rembrandt van Rijn, 'The Omval, near Amsterdam', About 1650. Museum no. CAI 609

    Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-69)
    'The Omval, near Amsterdam'
    About 1650
    Etching (Bartsch 209, State II)
    Museum no. CAI 609
    Bequeathed by Constantine Alexander Ionides

    In the late 19th century, connoisseurs and collectors took renewed interest in Rembrandt's delightfully informal etchings of village and river scenes. The Omval inspired the amateur etcher Francis Seymour Haden to explore the drypoint technique and begin a series of Thames views. This ambitious project, in which he intended to collaborate with his brother-in-law Whistler, was the origin of Whistler's Thames Set.

  • Henri De Braekeleer, 'A Flemish Kitchen Garden'

    Henri De Braekeleer, 'A Flemish Kitchen Garden', About 1864. Museum no. CAI 566

    Henri De Braekeleer (1840-88)
    'A Flemish Kitchen Garden'
    About 1864
    Etching
    Museum no. CAI 566
    Bequeathed by Constantine Alexander Ionides

    The Antwerp painter and etcher Henri De Braekeleer belonged to a family of artists. Influenced by 17th-century Dutch genre paintings, he specialised in humble scenes of everyday life, as in this example, where a woman in peasant dress bends over to cut a cabbage. Ionides also owned De Braekeleer's oil painting of this subject.