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Timbuktu Landscape

1908
Not on view
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.
In the late nineteenth century an increasing number of travelers and tourists visited Timbuktu. The German painter Fritz Nansen traveled across the region with ethnologist Leo Frobenius, documenting landscapes, architecture, and people through an array of paintings and drawings. In this romantic rendering of Timbuktu’s Sankore mosque, the end-of-day sun hits the western side of the minaret. The painter contrasts the earthen tone of the building and ground with the solitary figure’s vibrant red grand boubou.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Timbuktu Landscape
  • Artist: Fritz Nansen (German, active early 20th century)
  • Date: 1908
  • Geography: Germany
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: H. 23 5/8 × W. 12 7/8 in. (60 × 32.7 cm)
  • Classification: Painted Canvases
  • Credit Line: Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen, Netherlands (RV-5949-2)
  • Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing