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Cloud Study (Distant Storm)

Simon Denis Flemish
ca. 1786–1806
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 805
This study shows a range of climatic conditions stacked one above the other. It lightens progressively over a space that extends thousands of feet, from the rainstorm at lower left to the clear sky at top. Denis’s plein-air sketches epitomize the Enlightenment’s embrace of empirical research in the pursuit of knowledge. The artist employed the particular effect seen here in finished paintings of　the 1790s, and perhaps earlier.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Cloud Study (Distant Storm)
  • Artist: Simon Denis (Flemish, Antwerp 1755–1813 Naples)
  • Date: ca. 1786–1806
  • Medium: Oil on paper
  • Dimensions: 7 1/2 x 9 7/8 in. (19.1 x 25.1 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: The Whitney Collection, Gift of Wheelock Whitney III, and Purchase, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles S. McVeigh, by exchange, 2003

  • Object Number: 2003.42.19
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

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View on the Quirinal Hill, Rome, Simon Denis Flemish, Oil on paper, laid down on canvas
View on the Quirinal Hill, Rome
Simon Denis
1800
Fortified Wall at Tivoli, Simon Denis Flemish, Oil on paper, laid down on wood
Fortified Wall at Tivoli
Simon Denis
ca. 1786–1806
View from the Villa d'Este, Tivoli, Simon Denis Flemish, Oil on paper, laid down on canvas
View from the Villa d'Este, Tivoli
Simon Denis
ca. 1786–1806
Cloud Study (Early Evening), Simon Denis Flemish, Oil on paper
Cloud Study (Early Evening)
Simon Denis
ca. 1786–1806
Mountainous Landscape at Vicovaro, Simon Denis Flemish, Oil on paper
Mountainous Landscape at Vicovaro
Simon Denis
ca. 1786–97

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