The Chrudimka Valley

Antonín Chittussi's 'The Chrudimka Valley' (1887) depicts the valley of the Chrudimka river in eastern Bohemia — a characteristic Bohemian river landscape that combined the qualities of the central European riparian environment (willows, meadows, the river's meandering course through the agricultural plain) with the specific character of the Czech landscape that was his primary subject world after his return from France. His Bohemian river and valley subjects applied the atmospheric sensitivity of his Barbizon training to the specific landscape of his homeland.

Chittussi renders the Chrudimka Valley with the atmospheric sensitivity and tonal restraint of his Barbizon-influenced approach — the river valley's specific qualities (its flat-bottomed character, the willows and alders along the river banks, the quality of the Bohemian plain light on the water and meadows) observed with direct naturalist honesty. His handling of the valley's spatial depth and the atmospheric quality of the river environment creates the landscape's Czech character within his French-influenced technique.