A Great Beech Tree at the Edge of a Wood
c. 1840
Medium
black and white chalk with gray wash on gray laid paper
Dimensions
overall: 47.2 x 62.9 cm (18 9/16 x 24 3/4 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Karen B. Cohen in Honor of Andrew Robison
Accession Number
2005.62.1
Art Historical Context
In the tranquil "A Great Beech Tree at Edge of a Wood"c. 1840), French artist Adolphe App masterfully captures the majestic form of a solitary beech tree poised at the forest's fringe. Created with black and white chalk heightened by gray wash on gray laid paper, large-scale drawing (47.2 x 62.9 cm) showcases Appian's expertise in monochrome techniques, evoking depth and atmosphere through subtle tonal gradations. The textured laid paper enhances the organic feel, mimicking the bark's roughness and the wood's dappled light. Appian, active in mid-19th-century France amid the Barbizon School's ...
About the Artist
Adolphe Appian · 1818–1898
Adolphe Appian, born Jacques Barthélemy Adolphe Appian in Lyon, France, on August 28, 1819, began his artistic training at the age of fifteen at the École des Beaux-Arts de Lyon. There, he studied under the landscape painters Jean-Michel Grobon and Augustin Alexandre Thierrat, initially focusing on fabric decoration for the city's thriving silk industry. This practical grounding in drawing honed h...