Gallery
Joséphine Bowes (1825 - 1874)
Landscape with River and Trees: Sunset, c.1865
Joséphine Bowes was a talented amateur painter and exhibited this painting at the Paris Salon of 1868 under the title Souvenir de Normandie: Soleil Couchant. The painting accurately captures the effect of a setting sun as the last shafts of light creep over the hills in the background. The trees in the foreground and middleground are almost silhouetted against the warm orange sky which is reflected in the calm river that snakes into the distance. To create a balanced composition the painting is made up of three nearly equal sized pieces: the trees to the right, the river and trees to the bottom left, and the sky and clouds to the top left.
Joséphine Bowes
Joséphine Bowes, co-founder of The Bowes Museum, was a talented and dedicated painter, and throughout her life continued to develop her skills. As a result of her passion for painting, Joséphine collected many landscapes for the Museum project, including many Realist works. Unfortunately Joséphine died in 1874, the year of the first Impressionist exhibition. We can only surmise that, had she lived to see the Impressionist movement develop, The Bowes Museum would also own works from that period.
Activities, discussions and questions
» Compositional Harmony - Would the painting
still be as attractive if the composition was altered? What if the trees
took up more or less space? What if the background was brought forward
or pushed even further into the distance? What if the equally proportioned
sections were radically different? Have a go at making thumbnail sketches
of different compositional arrangements to see the effect they have.
» Silhouettes - Have a go at painting a landscape
silhouette at sunset or sunrise. To make this easier find photographs of sunset and sunrise showing the different colours
that occur. To create a silhouette, sketch a scene during the daytime
and darken it to remove most of the fine detail and form.
» Reflections - Make studies of the various
reflections found in nature to create an abstract piece based on landscapes.
Joséphine Bowes (1825 - 1874)
Landscape with River and Trees: Sunset, c.1865
Material: Oil on Canvas
Dimensions: 190.5 cm x 126 cm
Place made: France
Accession No: J.13
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