A Selection of Twenty of the Most Picturesque Views in Paris: The Water Works at Marli, and St. Germain en Laye seen in the distance
Medium
softground etching and aquatint printed in brown, hand-colored with watercolor
Dimensions
sheet: 45.3 × 63.2 cm · platemark: 22.7 × 54.5 cm
Classification
Department
Prints
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of John Bonebrake
Accession Number
2006.226
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
About this artwork
Girtin, along with his rival J. M. W. Turner, extended the technical possibilities of watercolor and in doing so demonstrated that watercolors could have the visual impact of oils. His reduction of landscape to simple and monumental forms, his panoramic compositions, and his sensitivity to natural effects, such as cloud formations, influenced subsequent generations of watercolor painters. Anxious to take advantage of the Peace of Amiens (October 1, 1801), Girtin went to Paris to see the artistic...