A Plane Tree
late 18th–mid-19th century
Medium
Black chalk
Dimensions
21 1/8 x 15 3/8 in. (53.6 x 39cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Alexander B.V. Johnson and Roberta J.M. Olson, 1992
Accession Number
1992.410
Tags
Art Historical Context
**A Plane Tree** by Jean Bertin (1767–1842) is a captivating study of nature rendered in black chalk, dating to the late 18th mid-19th century This French Neoclassical artist, a pupil of Jacques-Louis David, specialized in idyllic landscapes inspired by the classical masters like Claude Lain. Measuring 21 1/8 x 15 3/8 inches, the drawing showcases a majestic plane tree, its textured bark and branching form rendered with meticulous detail, evoking the era's reverence for the natural world amid the Romantic stirrings in art. Black chalk, Bertin's chosen medium here, excels in creating subtle to...
About the Artist
Jean Victor Bertin · 1775–1842
Jean-Victor Bertin (1767–1842) was a leading French neoclassical landscape painter whose meticulous classical compositions bridged the grandeur of historical landscapes with emerging plein air naturalism. Born in Paris on March 20, 1767, to a master wig-maker, Bertin entered the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture in 1785 at age eighteen as a pupil of history painter Gabriel-François Doyen...