The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology in Oxford is to hold an exhibition of paintings, drawings and prints of Claude Lorrain.
Claude Lorrain: The Enchanted Landscape will bring together 140 works from international collections, created at different points in the artist’s career. Lorrain (c1600–1682, real name Claude Gellée) is recognised as the ‘father’ of European landscape painting.
He was born in France, first visited Italy when he was 13 or 14, and settled in Rome for the rest of his life in 1627. The scenery of his great paintings was based on his studies of the ancient ruins and the countryside of the Tiber Valley and the Roman Campagna.
The popularity of his work, which grew in the 18th and 19th centuries, was begun by British ‘Grand Tourists’ and has influenced the British countryside. Notable garden designers reproduced his ideal views in the parklands of great houses from Blenheim Palace and Stowe to Stourhead and Chatsworth. English country houses are well stocked with both original paintings by Claude and with copies.
The exhibition will also reveal an unconventional side to Claude that has previously been little known, including his eccentric graphic art and his experimental etchings.
The Ashmolean is open 10am–6pm Tue–Sun and Bank Holiday Mons, admission free. Claude Lorrain: The Enchanted Landscape is in the Special Exhibition Galleries from 6 October to 8 January, admission £9.
Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, Beaumont Street, Oxford OX1 2PH
Tel: +44 1865 278002
Website: www.ashmolean.org
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