The Western Ramparts at Aigues-Mortes
1867
Artist, French, 1841 - 1870

Bazille spent a month working in Aigues-Mortes, a fortified medieval town in Southern France. This painting, one of three he produced there, is awash in color. Note the blues and greens of the water, the golden hues of the fortress, and the dazzling blue of the sky. Bazille made several preparatory drawings before putting brush to canvas. But once he began, he worked quickly, applying paint in long, sweeping strokes. Along the shoreline we can see the canvas in places. He made no attempt to cover the exposed areas as he rushed to finish the painting in a single session.

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 88
Artwork overview
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Medium
oil on canvas
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Credit Line
-
Dimensions
overall: 60 x 100 cm (23 5/8 x 39 3/8 in.)
framed: 78.7 x 116.2 x 7 cm (31 x 45 3/4 x 2 3/4 in.) -
Accession
1985.64.1
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
Marc Bazille, brother of the artist; his daughter, Mme Meynier de Salinelles-Bazille, Montpellier, by 1935 until at least 1949.[1] (sale, Palais Galliéra, Paris, 19 June 1963, unnumbered); purchased by (Hector Brame, Paris); sold 1963 to Paul Mellon, Upperville, VA;[2] gift 1985 to NGA.
[1] Lent by Mme Meynier de Salinelles-Bazille exhibitions in Paris in 1935 and to the Royal Academy exhibition in 1949.
[2] Acquisition and source according tp Paul Mellon records in NGA curatorial files.
Associated Names
Exhibition History
1910
Salon d'Automne, Grand Palais des Champs-Elysées, Paris, 1910, no. 12.
1935
Frederic Bazille, Association des Etudiants Protestants de Paris, Paris, 1935, no. 3, repro.
1936
Centenaire de Henri Fantin-Latour, Musée Bibliothèque de Grenoble, 1936, no. 507.
1949
Landscape in French Art, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1949, no. 251.
1950
Bazille, Wildenstein, Paris, 1950, no. 32.
1966
French Paintings from the Collections of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon and Mrs. Mellon Bruce, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1966, no. 112, repro.
1973
French Paintings from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 1973-1978, unnumbered checklist.
1986
Gifts to the Nation: Selected Acquisitions from the Collections of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1986, unnumbered checklist
1989
Impressionisti della National Gallery of Art di Washington, Ala Napoleonica e Museo Correr, Venice; Palazzo Reale, Milan, 1989, unnumbered catalogue, repro.
1990
Französische Impressionisten und ihre Wegbereiter aus der National Gallery of Art, Washington und dem Cincinnati Art Museum, Neue Pinakothek, Munich, 1990, no. 37, repro.
1994
Origins of Impressionism, Galeries nationales d'Exposition du Grand Palais, Paris; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1994-1995, no. 6, fig. 112, repro. (shown only in New York).
1996
French and American Impressionists, Albany Museum of Art, Georgia, 1996, unnumbered cat., repro.
1999
Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art; Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, 1999, no. 21, repro.
Around Impressionism: French Paintings from the National Gallery of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1999, no cat.
2003
Frédéric Bazille, Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris, 2003-2004, no. 13, repro.
2011
Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; The National Art Center, Tokyo; Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, 2011, no. 3, repro.
2013
Impressionist France: Visions of Nation from Le Gray to Monet, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City; Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, 2013-2014, no. 38, repro.
2016
Frédéric Bazille (1841-1870) and The Birth of Impressionism, Musée Fabre, Montpelier; Musée d'Orsay, Paris; National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2016-2017, no. 36, repro.
Bibliography
1932
Poulain, Gaston. Bazille et ses amis. Paris, 1932: no. 21
1990
Französische Impressionisten und ihre Wegbereiter aus der National Gallery of Art, Washington und dem Cincinnati Art Museum. Exh. cat. Neue Pinakothek, Munich, 1990: no. 37, repro.
1992
Daulte, François. Frédéric Bazille et les débuts de l'impressionisme. Paris, 1992:no. 27, repro.
1993
Bajou, Valérie. Frédéric Bazille 1841-1870. Aix-en-Provence, 1993:107-108, repro. 126
1995
Schulman, Michel. Frédéric Bazille 1841-1870: Catalogue raisonné. Paris, 1995:no. 33, repro.
1998
Pitman, Dianne W. Bazille: Purity, Pose, and Painting in the 1860s. The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1998: 130-132, repro. no. 81.
Inscriptions
lower left: F.Bazille.
Wikidata ID
Q20188701