De La Rive, Pierre Louis (1753-1817), Two Countrywomen with a Donkey

Pierre Louis De La Rive(1753 Geneva - 1817 Geneva). Two countrywomen with a donkey. Oil on canvas, mounted, 27 x 20 cm (visible size), 37 x 31 (frame), monogrammed "P.R." at lower right.

- A melancholy pause in an atmosphere of colour -

De La Rive has taken the typical scenes of Dutch landscape genre paintings by Philips Wouwerman or Nicolaes Berchem and given them a new artistic content. The landscape, but also the figures, dissolve into the atmosphere in a way reminiscent of Claude Lorraine's lighting design, so that the depiction exudes an elusive luminosity. The whole scene has a Watteau-like, dreamlike quality, which is further emphasised by the stillness of the group of figures. In addition, the women, looking in different directions and seemingly focused on nothing in particular, create a moment of timeless pause that lends a melancholy touch to the dreamlike atmosphere, which is softened by the warm pastel tones.
De La Rive's keen sense of atmospheric colour temperature, combined with a free brushstroke, anticipates the ideas of Impressionism.

About the artist

Between 1769 and 1773, De la Rive trained himself under the guidance of Nicolas-Henri-Joseph de Fassin in the Geneva collections, particularly the landscapes and animals of Philips Wouwerman, Nicolaes Berchem and Paulus Potter. In Dresden, he then discovered Claude Lorrain, whose use of light was to have a decisive influence on his work. Between 1784 and 1786, he completed the classical Grand Tour, visiting Rome, Naples and Paestum, where he became friends with Jean-Pierre Saint-Ours and Antonio Canova. Between 1789 and 1792, inspired by the surroundings of Geneva, De la Rive turned to bucolic-idealistic landscape painting, which was to be his artistic breakthrough. In 1794, he fled the revolutionary upheavals to Berne, where he continued to work on his 'tableaux dessinés', which he had developed in the Alps of the Bernese Oberland. These are large-format washed drawings which, in the manner of Lorrain's light effects, create a special luminous atmosphere. In 1810 and 1812, the Empress Joséphine commissioned such paintings from De la Rive.
As the founder of Genevan landscape painting, Pierre-Louis De la Rive was the subject of a major monographic retrospective in Geneva in 2002, demonstrating the international importance of this artist.

Selected Bibliography

Dubois-Melly: P.L. De la Rive et les premières expositions de peinture à Genève. 1769-1834, Genève 1868.

Fromer-Im Obersteg, Liselotte: Die Entwicklung der schweizerischen Landschaftsmalerei im 18. und frühen 19. Jahrhundert, Basel 1945.

Dessins de Pierre-Louis De La Rive (1753-1817), Genève 1969.

Pianzola, Maurice: Paysages romantiques genevois. Musée d’art et d’histoire, Genève 1977.

Patrick-André Guerretta (Hg.): Pierre-Louis De la Rive ou la belle nature. Vie et ouvre peint (1753 - 1817). Catalogue de l'exposition Pierre-Louis De la Rive (1753 - 1817) et le paysage à l'âge néoclassique, Musée Rath, Genève 7 février - 5 mai 2002, Genève 2002.