Gabriel Cognacq

French, 1880 - 1951

Explore Selected Works

We look across the water at two sailing ships with cream-white sails and dark rigging floating in a shimmering, ice-blue river against a distant shore lined with trees, hills, and buildings in this nearly square landscape painting. The horizon comes about halfway up the painting, and the ships’ masts and sails are silhouetted against a topaz-blue sky with wispy white clouds. The scene is loosely painted with visible brushstrokes throughout so many of the details are indistinct. One boat floats near the left edge of the painting and the second is situated a little father back, to our right of center. Both have rust-orange anchors painted near the pointed bows, which face us. Tall, narrow, asparagus-green trees line the far riverbank between the boats. Tall spires and towers of buildings rise in a cluster to our left near that edge of the canvas, and boats cluster near the distant shore to our right. Oatmeal-brown hills rise beyond the trees and town. The trees and boats are reflected in the water, which is painted with horizontal dashes and squiggles. The artist signed the painting in the lower left, “Claude Monet.”
Claude Monet, Ships Riding on the Seine at Rouen, 1872/1873, oil on canvas, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection, 1970.17.43

Ships Riding on the Seine at Rouen

Claude Monet · 1872/1873 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1970.17.43

Martin Schongauer, The Madonna, c. 1490/1491, engraving on laid paper, Rosenwald Collection, 1953.6.120

The Madonna

Martin Schongauer · c. 1490/1491 · engraving on laid paper ·  Accession ID  1953.6.120

Master BM, Saint John on Patmos, c. 1480/1490, engraving, Rosenwald Collection, 1952.8.1

Saint John on Patmos

Master BM · c. 1480/1490 · engraving ·  Accession ID  1952.8.1

Stanislas Lépine, Pont de la Tournelle, Paris, 1862, oil on canvas, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection, 1970.17.35

Pont de la Tournelle, Paris

Stanislas Lépine · 1862 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1970.17.35

Albrecht Dürer, The Turkish Family, c. 1495/1496, engraving on laid paper, Rosenwald Collection, 1953.6.63

The Turkish Family

Albrecht Dürer · c. 1495/1496 · engraving on laid paper ·  Accession ID  1953.6.63

Martin Schongauer, The Annunciation, c. 1480, engraving on laid paper, Rosenwald Collection, 1952.8.294

The Annunciation

Martin Schongauer · c. 1480 · engraving on laid paper ·  Accession ID  1952.8.294

Shown from the lap up, a pale-skinned woman wearing a long gown and wide-brimmed hat sits in front of a low stone wall in this vertical portrait painting. The woman takes up the lower right quadrant of the composition. Her body faces our left, and she looks off in that direction so we see her in profile. She has large eyes, a delicate nose, round, flushed cheeks, and a pointed chin. Her blond hair is pulled back under a black covering at the back of her head. The underside of her hat brim is steel gray, and a carnation-pink feather droops over one side. The rounded, straw-yellow crown is just visible above the grim. A gold and pearl earring dangles from the ear we see, and a smoke-gray, translucent cloth is tied around her shoulders. The bodice of her dress is coral red on the upper chest and patterned with gold stripes and leaves against brown on the torso and elbow-length sleeves. The white garment she wears underneath is gathered in puffs just under the elbows, beyond the end of the brown sleeves. Her apricot-orange skirt has a sheen, suggesting satin, and a translucent white apron is tied around the waist. She holds a hoop, about the diameter of a human head, in both hands. She adds colorful flowers to the hoop and more blossoms lie in her lap. Her far elbow rests on the stone wall that spans the bottom third of the painting. The front face of the wall is carved in low relief with a sunflower, roses, and other flowers. A crack runs down through the top of the wall and curves toward the woman. A stone fountain rises from the ledge to our left. A tall base is topped by a stylized fish with water trickling from its open mouth. Also part of the carved fountain, the head of a small child standing astride the fish is cut off by the top edge of the panel. Shadowy trees nearly fill the space beyond the wall, but a clearing is visible through a small gap near the woman’s face. There, a man sitting on the grass wraps his arms around the woman sitting next to him. A dome, towers, and rooflines are nickel-gray in the deep distance beyond. The artist signed the work as if he had carved the wall near the woman to read, “G. Schalcken.”
Godefridus Schalcken, Woman Weaving a Crown of Flowers, c. 1675/1680, oil on panel, The Lee and Juliet Folger Fund, 2005.26.1

Woman Weaving a Crown of Flowers

Godefridus Schalcken · c. 1675/1680 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  2005.26.1

Bibliography

1969

  • Cabanne, Pierre. "Les Grands Collectionneurs: Les Cognacq." Jardin des Arts 179 (October 1969): 72-85.

1989

  • Les donateurs du Louvre. Paris, 1989: 174.