The Windmill

probably after 1884

Jean-Charles Cazin

Associated Names
Jean-Charles Cazin

Artist, French, 1841 - 1901

This painting shows a tan pathway curving through long green grass, dark green moss, and tall flowers in shades of white, pink, and blue, towards a wooden windmill situated on a hill in the horizon. The blades of the windmill face the left, and behind it is a cloudy sky. Near the pathway, in the bottom left corner of the painting, there is a wooden fence where a woman and child are seated. On the other side of the fence, a brown-and-white cow grazes. The landscape gradually rises towards the windmill, and in the distance the land fades into the horizon. The scene features a warm color palette with soft pinks, browns, greens, and earth tones, and the brushstrokes are soft, giving the scene a hazy quality.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on wood

  • Credit Line

    Gift of R. Horace Gallatin

  • Dimensions

    overall: 40.5 x 32 cm (15 15/16 x 12 5/8 in.)
    framed: 66 x 57.8 x 8.3 cm (26 x 22 3/4 x 3 1/4 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1949.1.1

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

John W. Simpson [1850-1920], New York. Sold 6 January 1909 by (M. Knoedler & Co., New York) to R. Horace Gallatin [1871-1948], New York;[1] bequest 1949 to NGA.
[1] Provenance taken from Gallatin's acquisitions notebooks, NGA Gallery Archives, copy in NGA curatorial files. This painting is likely the same painting by Cazin, titled "The Windmill," that was returned to Knoedler's by Andrew Watrous Smith in December 1908, according to Knoedler Stock Book 5, page 165, row 3, stock No. 11719 (Getty Research Institute); the stock book lists the purchase date as 22 December 1908.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1954

  • Extended loan for use by The White House, Washington, D.C., 1954-1955.

1967

  • Loan for display with permanent collection, Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia, Athens, 1967-1971.

Bibliography

1965

  • Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 24.

1968

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 17, repro.

1975

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 58, repro.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 78, repro.

Inscriptions

lower left: J.C.Cazin

Wikidata ID

Q20189729

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