Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00011386About the Artwork
The exquisite handling of the pastel, crisp and colorful in the foreground while of the greatest subtlety in the atmospheric distance, bears out Pillement's reputation as the best 18th-century French artist of the pastel landscape. Landscapes in this period were most often picturesque creations, rather than literal transcriptions of nature. In this dramatically irregular countryside, shepherds, flocks, and rustic buildings create an air of idealized rural charm.
Inscriptions
Signed lower right: "J. Pillement / Pour son ami / gavines 1779"
Provenance
Albert Blum, NY (1938); (Wildenstein & Co., NY)
Exhibition history
Year in Review: 1973. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 30-March 17, 1974). Visions of Landscape: East and West. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 17-March 21, 1982). Highlights of the Rococo: Norweb Ceramics and Related Arts. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 8, 1983-June 3, 1984). Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 27-October 17, 2000).
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Jean Baptiste Pillement (French, 1728–1808)
- Date
- 1779
- Medium
- pastel
- Dimensions
- Unframed: 46.3 x 60.5 cm (18 1/4 x 23 13/16 in.)
- Type
- Drawing
- Classification
- Drawing
- Department
- Drawings
- Credit line
- Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund
- Accession no.
- 1973.1
More by Jean Baptiste Pillement in museum collections
Open-access museum record · AT-00011386
Powered by Art Trackers