romantic landscape (1803-1950)
This collection traces the evolution of landscape painting from the emotional intensity of early 19th-century Romanticism through the materiality of Post-Impressionism and into mid-20th-century atmospheric interpretation. Rather than presenting landscape as a purely descriptive genre, the works assembled here reveal nature as a constructed emotional space shaped by narrative, light, symbolism, and painterly intervention.
Beginning with Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps (1803–1860), whose dramatic chiaroscuro and expressive brushwork redefined the Romantic landscape tradition, the selection moves through textured Post-Impressionist approaches and tonal atmospheric explorations. Across these works, the landscape becomes less a record of geography and more a vehicle for mood, memory, and psychological resonance.
The collection features artists such as Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps (1803–1860), Jean Rigaud (1912–1999), Gino Karolyi (1906–1988), and Román, alongside selected works from the Madame Flihan Collection.
Despite differences in period and technique, these artists share a commitment to landscape as an atmospheric and emotional construct, privileging light, texture, and painterly gesture over strict topographical accuracy. From Decamps’s theatrical rural scenes to Karolyi’s luminous Mediterranean coastlines and Rigaud’s impasto-driven riverbanks, the works articulate a continuous dialogue between Romantic sensibility and modern painterly expression.
FEATURED WORKs
Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps
Peasants on the Road
Oil on canvas
33.5 x 56 cm
Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps (1803–1860) was a major figure of 19th-century French art, known for his bold rejection of academic polish in favor of rough brushwork, dramatic light, and striking color contrasts. In this luminous rural scene, he applies that fearless approach to a French landscape, where a sunlit road slices through deep shadows cast by towering trees. Small peasant figures animate the composition, while a distant village and church tower dissolve softly into the sky, showcasing Decamps’s mastery of atmosphere, depth, and chiaroscuro.
Madame Flihan Collection
Winter Valley Farm
Oil on canvas
49 x 62 cm
In Winter Valley Farm, the painting is executed in a realistic style with a strong painterly quality. The artist demonstrates a sophisticated understanding of light and temperature, with snow rendered in cool blue shadows and warm highlights, and fluid, confident brushwork capturing texture. The serene rural landscape guides the viewer’s eye to a prominent, rustic red barn, with rolling hills and mountains against a clear, pale blue sky, evoking the crisp stillness of a winter day.
Madame Flihan Collection
Poplars in a Rocky Landscape
Oil on board
51 x 70 cm
Poplars in a Rocky Landscape is a striking example of textural Post-Impressionism painted in oil on board. Executed with a vigorous, sculptural application of paint and heavy impasto, the work presents a rocky, arid landscape animated by tall, slender trees rising against a pale blue sky. Silvery greens, ochres, and muted earth tones unify the scene, while small, indistinct figures provide scale and quiet human presence. The aggressive, scratchy texture and expressive knife work emphasize the raw physicality of the medium, creating a cohesive, vibrating surface that prioritizes material expression and atmospheric movement.
Román
Misty Landscape in Grey and Ocher
Oil on canvas
54 x 65 cm
Misty Landscape in Grey and Ocher is an ethereal oil on canvas that falls within Atmospheric Expressionism or Tonalism. Román employs a confident, fluid application of paint and a restrained, almost monochromatic palette of pearl greys, washed-out ochres, and subtle mauves to dissolve rigid outlines and prioritize mood and atmosphere. Simplified forms, sweeping brushstrokes, and fading hills create a sense of infinite distance, evoking profound tranquility and a quiet, melancholic silence.
Gino Karolyi
Mediterranean Coastline
Oil on canvas
60 x 73 cm
Mediterranean Coastline, an oil on canvas likely executed during the 1950s, demonstrates a confident, painterly technique typical of the mid-20th-century European tradition. Karolyi portrays a sweeping view of a rocky shore with sun-drenched cliffs meeting the sea, using expressive, textural brushwork and a vibrant, warm palette contrasted with cool turquoise and azure tones. His mastery of color and light creates a strong atmospheric effect, reflecting a synthesis of realism and impressionism.
Jean Rigaud
Bord de Rivière
Oil on canvas
50 x 60 cm
Attributed to Jean Rigaud, this vibrant oil on canvas is distinguished by energetic impasto and a strong sense of movement and depth. The composition is dominated by a group of aged, twisted trees leaning over a calm body of water, painted in rich ochres and browns that contrast with surrounding greens and reflected sky tones. Small figures in the middle ground suggest rural activity, integrating human presence into the natural setting. The dramatic handling of light and the use of pure color tones reflect Rigaud’s synthesis of realism and Post-Impressionist sensibility.