Gust of Wind on the Poplars

About the Artwork

At a time when most landscape artists favored dramatic Italian views, Auguste Allongé depicted the terrain of his native France and especially the forest of Fontainebleau, outside Paris. This sheet shows poplar trees along a river, bending slightly with the suggestion of a breeze. Allongé worked traditionally with charcoal, drawing on paper, but also removed the material throughout using a stump to create highlights and dramatic tonal variation.

Inscriptions

Signed, in black ink, lower left: Allongé

Provenance

?–2023: (Nathalie Motte Masselink, Paris, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) June 5, 2023–: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Quick Overview

Artist: Auguste Allongé (French, 1833–1898)
Date: c. 1873–80
Medium: charcoal on wove paper
Dimensions: Matted: 47.5 x 75.9 cm (18 11/16 x 29 7/8 in.); Sheet: 33 x 62.2 cm (13 x 24 1/2 in.)
Type: Drawing
Classification: Drawing
Department: Drawings
Credit line: Mr. and Mrs. Richard W. Whitehill Art Purchase Endowment Fund
Accession no.: 2023.112

Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.