Italian Landscape

Pierre-Athanase Chauvin was a close friend of Ingres and studied under the landscape artist Pierre-Henri Valenciennes . Throughout his career, he remained faithful to the principles of Classical art. Chauvin's paintings are all constructed in very similar fashion: the picture framed by hills, trees or architectural monuments, the space - with rare exceptions - built up of layers of horizontal planes. In terms of style and execution they also reveal little variety: a static composition, calligraphically precise drawing and a cold, light colour scheme dominated by light blue skies, dark blue sea and rich green vegetation, constrasting with the warm, sandy-brown tones of the earth and buildings.