Sunset, Rome

Simon Denis  (Flemish, Antwerp 1755–1813 Naples)

Medium:
Oil on paper
Dimensions:
8 1/4 x 10 3/8 in. (21 x 26.4 cm)
Classification:
Paintings
Credit Line:
Thaw Collection, Jointly Owned by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Morgan Library & Museum, Gift of Eugene V. Thaw, 2009
Accession Number:
2009.400.43
  • Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

    Inscription: Signed and inscribed (verso): a Rome / S. Ds / 54

  • Provenance

    sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, May 27, 1977, no. 22, as "Vue de Rome, effet de Ciel," for Fr 820; sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, December 20, 1996, no. 137, as "Coucher de soleil sur une ville de Toscane," for Fr 270,000 ($51,649); [Hazlitt, Gooden & Fox, London, in 1998; sold to Thaw]; Eugene V. Thaw, New York (by 2001–9)

  • Exhibition History

    London. Hazlitt, Gooden & Fox. "Nineteenth and early Twentieth Century Drawings and Oil Sketches," June 17–July 17, 1998, no. 37 (as "Coucher de soleil: Rome").

    Paris. Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais. "Paysages d'Italie: Les peintres du plein air (1780–1830)," April 3–July 9, 2001, no. 84 (as "Coucher de soleil à Rome").

    Mantua. Palazzo Te. "Un paese incantato: Italia dipinta da Thomas Jones a Corot," September 3–December 9, 2001, no. 84 (as "Tramonto a Roma").

    New York. Pierpont Morgan Library. "The Thaw Collection: Master Drawings and Oil Sketches, Acquisitions Since 1994," September 27, 2002–January 19, 2003, no. 73 (as "A Roman Sunset on the Campagna").

    Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art. "The Romantic Prospect: Plein Air Painters, 1780–1850," June 22–August 15, 2004, no. 7 (as "A Roman sunset on the Campagna").

    Sydney. Art Gallery of New South Wales. "Plein-air Painting in Europe, 1780–1850," September 4–October 31, 2004, no. 7.

    Melbourne. National Gallery of Victoria. "Plein-air Painting in Europe, 1780–1850," November 19, 2004–January 16, 2005, no. 7.

    The Hague. Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis. "Dreaming of Italy," March 11–June 25, 2006, no. 13 (as "A sunset on the Campagna").

  • References

    Nineteenth and early Twentieth Century Drawings and Oil Sketches. Exh. cat., Hazlitt, Gooden & Fox. London, 1998, unpaginated, no. 37, ill. (color), states that the influence of Pierre-Henri de Valenciennes "is very apparent" in this sketch and suggests that it may be related to Denis's "View on the Quirinal Hill, Rome" (now MMA 2003.42.20).

    Anna Ottani Cavina. Paysages d'Italie: Les peintres du plein air (1780–1830). Exh. cat., Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais. Paris, 2001, p. 131, no. 84, ill. (color), observes that the imbalance between land and sky recalls similar works by Valenciennes.

    Valentina Branchini. "Simon Denis (1755–1813) in Italia: Dipinti e Disegni di Paesaggio." PhD diss., Università di Bologna, 2002–3, pp. 16–17, 118–21, no. 47, ill.

    Cara Dufour Denison in The Thaw Collection: Master Drawings and Oil Sketches, Acquisitions Since 1994. Exh. cat., Pierpont Morgan Library. New York, 2002, pp. 162–63, no. 73, ill. (color).

    Charlotte Gere in Plein-Air Painting in Europe, 1780–1850. Exh. cat., Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art. Shizuoka, 2004, pp. 42–43, no. 7, ill. (color).

    Henk van Os. Dreaming of Italy. Exh. cat., Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis, The Hague. Zwolle, The Netherlands, 2006, pp. 82–83, 124, no. 13, fig. 26 (color), dates it about 1790.

    Esther Bell. "Catalogue Raisonné of the Thaw Collection." Studying Nature: Oil Sketches from the Thaw Collection. New York, 2011, p. 116, no. 44, ill. (color).



  • See also
    Who
    What
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    In the Museum
    Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
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