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Autumnal Cloud filling the Valley of Geneva, the Jura rising out of it, seen from the Brezon above Bonneville John Ruskin
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Curator’s description:
Description
The view looks down from the rocky slope of the Pointe d'Andey over mist swirling around the valley of Geneva, with the mountains of the Jura silhouetted in the distance.
Although Ruskin visted the area frequently, Taylor points to a letter which he wrote on 28 December 1862, ecstatically describing the view from the Saleve across the Valley of Geneva (XXXVI.428). Taylor also compares the style of this drawing with another view from the Pointe d'Andey above Bonneville, dated to 1862, in the collection of the Ruskin Foundation ("Brezon, looking towards Geneva", Ruskin Library, 1996P1174). Bonneville is about 10 miles up the valley of the Arve from the house at Mornex, where Ruskin spent most of the autumn of 1862.
The drawing was first catalogued in the Drawing School in 1871, as no. 8 H in Case XII of the Educational Series, which was devoted to 'Rocks, Water, and Clouds'. Although renumbered, as 297, it remained in the same place in the 1874 catalogue of the series.
Taylor notes that Ruskin referred to the Pointe d'Andey as 'The Brezon', a name he adopted from that of the nearby village of Brizon. Ruskin considered building a permanent house near the mountain's summit, as he was so attracted by the views (see his letters of 7 April, 2, 14 and 26 May, and 14 September 1863 = XXXVI.440, 442, 444, 445, 453); however, he was opposed by the locals who assume, from watching him take gelogical samples, that Ruskin had discovered a valuable mineral deposit.
REPR The Artist, July 1897
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Details
- Artist/maker
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John Ruskin (1819 - 1900)
- Object type
- drawing
- Material and technique
- watercolour over graphite
- Dimensions
- 119 x 237 mm
- Associated place
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- Europe › France › Rhône-Alpes › Pointe d'Andey › Pointe d'Andey (subject)
- Inscription
- Verso:
bottom left corner, in graphite: E.297
bottom left corner, in ink: 8.H.New
centre, the Ruskin School's stamp
- Provenance
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Presented by John Ruskin to the Ruskin Drawing School (University of Oxford), 1875; transferred from the Ruskin Drawing School to the Ashmolean Museum, c.1949.
- No. of items
- 1
- Accession no.
- WA.RS.ED.297
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Subject terms allocated by curators:
Subjects
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References in which this object is cited include:
References
Taylor, Gerald, ‘John Ruskin: A Catalogue of Drawings by John Ruskin in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford’, 7 fascicles, 1998, Oxford, Ashmolean Museum, no. 086
Ruskin, John, Catalogue of the Educational Series (London: Smith, Elder, 1871), cat. Educational no. XII.8.H
Ruskin, John, Catalogue of the Educational Series (London: Spottiswoode, 1874), cat. Educational no. 297
Ruskin, John, ‘The Works of John Ruskin’, Edward T. Cook and Alexander Wedderburn, eds, The Works of John Ruskin: Library Edition, 39 (London: George Allen, 1903-1912), vol. XXI, pl. XXXV, f.p. 101
Ruskin, John, ‘The Ruskin Art Collection at Oxford: Catalogues, Notes and Instructions’, Edward T. Cook and Alexander Wedderburn, eds, The Works of John Ruskin: Library Edition, 39 (London: George Allen, 1903-1912), 21, cat. Educational no. 297
Location
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- Western Art Print Room
Position in Ruskin’s Collection
Ruskin's Catalogues
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Ruskin's Educational series, 1st ed. (1871)
8 H Autumnal cloud filling the valley of Geneva, the Jura rising out of it; seen from the Brezon above Bonneville. M -
Ruskin's Educational series, 2nd ed. (1874)
297. Autumnal cloud filling the valley of Geneva, the Jura rising out of it; seen from the Brezon above Bonneville. M
