Sketch of "Landscape with Stormy Sky"
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.In this, one of two watercolor versions of the same composition, Fragonard’s fluid brushstrokes describe the eerie glow before a storm. As ominous clouds conspire above, a shepherd rushes to gather his flock and usher them to safety. Both sheets are charged with the same atmospheric drama—evocative of the sublime—though one sheet is more fully articulated than the other. In the larger work, the artist added more detail and contrast, not only in the rendering of the figures and the animals but also in the pointillist treatment of the branches and foliage, which stand out against the dark sky.
Artwork Details
- Title: Sketch of "Landscape with Stormy Sky"
- Artist: Jean Honoré Fragonard (French, Grasse 1732–1806 Paris)
- Date: ca. 1766
- Medium: Brush and brown, black, and gray wash, with touches of white gouache mixed in
- Dimensions: 9 5/8 × 14 5/8 in. (24.4 × 37.1 cm)
- Classification: Drawings
- Credit Line: Private collection
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints