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Source Description
One of sixteen images in the series <em>Aspects of Nature, </em>this lithograph depicts a view from Rivière’s summer home in Brittany. Rivière chose this site for the house—perched high atop gray rocks among pine trees and heather—because “[y]ou could believe yourself at the end of the world there . . . the noise of the winds and the sea, the cries of birds . . . a call of a sailor were the only sounds which enlivened the harmonious landscape, which changed in itself and its colors according to the effects and the hours.” This image of two children and a flock of sheep poised on a cliff’s edge overlooking a vast, turbulent sea perfectly evokes Rivière’s description. His brilliantly colored, large-format landscape prints played a pivotal role in the revival of the artistic lithograph at the end of the 19th century in France. The artist championed the idea that prints should be large in size, issued in large editions, and sold for relatively inexpensive prices so that art would be accessible to the general public. Rivière’s so-called mural prints were used to decorate homes, schools, shops, and restaurants.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
162906
label
Aspects of Nature: The Cliff
core
obj
dtoType
print
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
162906
contentType
print
title
Aspects of Nature: The Cliff
description
One of sixteen images in the series <em>Aspects of Nature, </em>this lithograph depicts a view from Rivière’s summer home in Brittany. Rivière chose this site for the house—perched high atop gray rocks among pine trees and heather—because “[y]ou could believe yourself at the end of the world there . . . the noise of the winds and the sea, the cries of birds . . . a call of a sailor were the only sounds which enlivened the harmonious landscape, which changed in itself and its colors according to the effects and the hours.” This image of two children and a flock of sheep poised on a cliff’s edge overlooking a vast, turbulent sea perfectly evokes Rivière’s description. His brilliantly colored, large-format landscape prints played a pivotal role in the revival of the artistic lithograph at the end of the 19th century in France. The artist championed the idea that prints should be large in size, issued in large editions, and sold for relatively inexpensive prices so that art would be accessible to the general public. Rivière’s so-called mural prints were used to decorate homes, schools, shops, and restaurants.
date
1897
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q79988126
creators
9922
68930
genreSpecific
Print
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Sheet: 64.2 x 89.8 cm (25 1/4 x 35 3/8 in.); Image: 55 x 82.7 cm (21 5/8 x 32 9/16 in.)
cul
France, 19th century
accession
2003.384
Source extras
tec
color lithograph
tombstone
Aspects of Nature: The Cliff, 1897. Henri Rivière (French, 1864–1951), Printed by Verneau. Color lithograph; sheet: 64.2 x 89.8 cm (25 1/4 x 35 3/8 in.); image: 55 x 82.7 cm (21 5/8 x 32 9/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of John Bonebrake, 2003.384
supportMaterials
description
wove paper
collection
PR - Lithograph
editionOfTheWork
1,000
citations
citation
Glaubinger, Jane. "A Legacy on Paper." <em>Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine</em> 51, no. 5 (September/October 2011): 12-13.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: p. 12
citation
Basch, Sophie. <em>Le Japonisme, Un Art Français</em>. Œuvres En Sociétés. Dijon: Les Presses du réel, 2022.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: P. 402-403, fig. 196
catalogueRaisonne
Fields p. 76, plate 3
creditline
Gift of John Bonebrake
updatedAt
2026-05-29 08:27:56.214000
sourceId
162906
dept
Prints
coll
PR - Lithograph
med
color lithograph
creatorTags
male
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
1869266cda5d179b