74. Jean-Achille Benouville

Paris 1815 – 1891 Paris

View of a Hilly Landscape near Ariccia

A student of Leon Cogniet (1794–1880), Jean-Achille Benouville first visited Italy in 1837. He was a friend of Corot and the two artists shared a studio in Rome in 1843. Benouville would go on to win the Prix de Rome for historical landscape in 1845 and spend the following two decades in Italy. This view of a mountainous landscape near Ariccia was probably painted from an observation post or terrace, as evidenced by a study painted from almost the exact same spot decades earlier by the plein air pioneer Jean-Joseph-Xavier Bidauld (cat. 73). The topographical similarities bring out the stylistic differences between the two artists, and help illustrate one of the most fascinating aspects of the plein air landscape study, as painters could be standing easel to easel before the exact same view and achieve markedly different results.