Four Large Trees
Artist: Alexandre Calame (Swiss, 1810 - 1864)
Original Dimensions: 13 3/4" x 19 1/4"
Location: National Gallery of Art, London
About Artwork: (Before 1850) "In this study four trees, probably oaks, progress diagonally into the landscape, establishing a rhythm across the picture surface. A pool of sunlight illuminates the ground, with patches of light catching the branches. Leafless branches poke through the foliage, dramatic in their angularity. From the 1830s onwards, Calame regularly painted and drew trees, whether in groups or individual specimens. Making such studies was part of a landscape artist’s practice and training and considered the equivalent of working from the life model. Familiarity with a tree’s trunk, bark and foliage was deemed as important as knowledge of the anatomy of a human figure." - (National Gallery of Art, London)

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