A Park with Figures at a Statue near Water

Art Historical Context

Salomon Gessner, a Swiss poet and painter celebrated for his idyllic landscapes, created *A Park with Figures at Statue near Water* around 1775. This delicate gouache and watercolor drawing, accented by framing lines in pen and brown ink measures 10⅞ × 15⅜ inches and captures the essence of 18th-century pastoral reverie. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department, it exemplifiesessner's signature style, blending Rococo elegance with emerging Romantic sensibilities, where harmonious nature scenes evoke poetic tranquility. The composition depicts a serene park setting with figures gathered at a statue—likely featuring women, as suggested by the artwork's tags—near shimmering water. Gessner's works often idealized rural life, drawing from classical mythology and his own verse, reflecting Enlightenment-era nostalgia for simplicity amid urbanization. Gouache's opaque vibrancy lends luminous depth to foliage and reflections, while watercolor's fluidity softens edges, creating an atmospheric haze that invites viewers into this contemplative idyll. As a finished drawing rather than a preliminary sketch, it highlights Gessner's technical prowess in mixed media, bridging painting and poetry. This anonymous 2009 gift offers a window into how such intimate works adorned private collections, celebrating sculpture and femininity in harmony with nature.

About the Artist

Salomon Gessner · 1730–1788

Salomon Gessner was born in Zurich in 1730 into a family of printers and publishers, an upbringing that placed books, images, and ideas at the center of his world from an early age. Though largely self-taught as a visual artist, he received some instruction during a period in Berlin, where he encountered the German Rococo tradition, and his mature work reflects a deep absorption in the pastoral li...