John Peter Russell
(Australia 16 Jun 1858–30 Apr 1930)
Les aiguilles de Coton, Belle-Île
- Location
- Not on display
- Further information
John Russell was the only Australian artist to have been closely associated with some of the most original and influential artists of late nineteenth century France, including Auguste Rodin, Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh and Henri Matisse. He lived from 1888-1908 on the French island Belle-Île-en-Mer, off the coast of Brittany, attracted, like Matisse and Monet, by the wild, rocky landscape and the unpredictable waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
Russell painted a number of key subjects on the island, including the sea, cliffs, rocks and portraits of his family and the local fisherman, Père Polyte. This watercolour depicts the 'Port-Coton needles', a distinctively shaped outcrop of rocks that rises from the water near the shore, a short distance from Russell's house.
© Australian Art Department, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2004
- Year
- 1897
- Media
- Watercolour
- Medium
- watercolour, gouache
- Dimensions
- 54.7 x 37.9cm sight
- Signature & date
- Signed and dated l.l. corner, red watercolour "JOHN RUSSELL. 1897".
- Credit
- Purchased 1974
- Accession number
- 66.1974
