Q106803130

Barthélemy Menn was one of the most significant Swiss painters of the nineteenth century, though his importance derives as much from his teaching as from his own production. He was a student of Ingres in Paris and later became the teacher of Ferdinand Hodler, making him a crucial link between French classicism and Swiss Symbolism. This 1867 work on cardboard, held at the Museum of Art and History Geneva, belongs to the period when Menn was fully established as Geneva's leading art instructor. Cardboard as a support was often chosen for studies and sketches — less expensive than canvas, allowing for rapid, direct work. Menn's own painting was strongly influenced by Corot and the Barbizon school; his landscapes have a quiet, atmospheric quality quite different from the dramatic scale his pupil Hodler would later pursue.

Cardboard absorbs oil paint differently from canvas — more quickly, with less opportunity for blending, encouraging a direct, committed approach. Menn's handling on such supports tends toward summary statements of tonal mass rather than detailed elaboration. The matt surface of absorbed paint gives a characteristic quiet to the overall tonality.