Description
| Title: | View of the Île de la Cité, Paris |
| Other titles: | View of the Île de la Cité, Paris (the museum’s title) |
| Painter: | Henri Rousseau |
| Year painted: | about 1893 |
| Original size: | 81 cm x 100.5 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | oil on canvas |
| Painting style: | naive art (primitivism) |
| Held at: | Ackland Art Museum, Chapel Hill, USA |
| Our reproduction: | hand-painted oil on canvas, nine sizes or a size made to order |
View of the Île de la Cité, Paris is a painting by Henri Rousseau, oil on canvas, dated about 1893 by the Ackland Art Museum in Chapel Hill. What you see: the island in the Seine as a dark silhouette of spires, a dome and flags against a blazing orange sky, with a stone bridge below and lights reflected in the river. We paint it by hand in oils, in nine sizes or to measure, and send you a photograph of the finished painting before dispatch.
View of the Île de la Cité, Paris
What is on the canvas?
The sky burns in strokes of orange, yellow and red. Against it stands the dark silhouette of the island: at the left a dome with a French flag, another flag in the middle, a tall pointed spire and two square towers, and rows of chimneys along the rooftops. Tiny yellow and red lights glow in the dark facades. A dark stone bridge with arches crosses the river, and the lights stretch into long vertical reflections in the water. In the foreground two men in caps stand talking on the quay, and a dark tree rises at the right. The signature, Henri Rousseau, is at the lower left. Another Rousseau Paris at sunset is View of the Eiffel Tower and the Trocadéro.
What does the painting mean?
The Île de la Cité is the island in the middle of the Seine, the oldest part of Paris. Rousseau does not paint it as a detailed postcard but as a single dark outline against a fiery sky in which the windows are lighting up. The two men on the quay, tiny beside the city, give the scene the calm of an evening conversation by the river. On a wall a painting like this works as a window onto a warm Paris evening. Another bridge over the Seine by the same painter is View of the Bridge at Sèvres.
Which size suits which room?
The original is 81 cm high and 100.5 cm wide; 160 x 129 and 180 x 145 cm keep its proportion most exactly, and 100 x 81 cm is close. Nine sizes are available: 70 x 55, 75 x 60, 85 x 68, 100 x 81, 110 x 90, 120 x 100, 160 x 129, 180 x 145 and 200 x 160 cm. Because the painting lives on the strong contrast between the dark city and the glowing sky, we recommend it for a living or dining room from 100 x 81 cm upward; the smaller sizes suit a study or a bedroom. Above a sofa the painting usually takes about two thirds of the width of the furniture; above a bed it should stay narrower than the headboard. Custom sizes are ordered through the made-to-order painting page, where you enter the width and height; we suggest keeping the proportion of the original and changing only the scale. A river on the edge of Paris by the same painter is also The Great Laundry Boat at Charenton Bridge.
How is the painting made, and does it come framed?
Your canvas is begun only after you order it, and is painted by hand in oils in our workshop in Slovenia, at the size you choose. The painter lays in the glowing sky first in broad strokes, then the dark silhouette of the island and the bridge, then the water with its reflections, and last the tiny lights in the windows and the two men on the quay. We do not print, and no machine application is used, so no two versions are exactly alike. The canvas is stretched on a wooden frame and arrives ready to hang; a picture frame is not included in the price and is chosen separately. Before packing we photograph the finished painting and send you the photograph for approval; only then does it travel. A Paris park by the same painter is Jardin du Luxembourg. The whole collection is in the Henri Rousseau gallery.
How is it delivered, and what do we guarantee?
We deliver to Slovenia, Croatia, Italy, Austria, Hungary and Germany. Depending on its size, the canvas travels rolled in a rigid tube or stretched on its frame, always in protective wrapping and as a tracked parcel. The making time depends on the size and is confirmed when you order. We guarantee that every painting is painted by hand and that you see a photograph of the finished work before dispatch; if anything in it is not as you wish, we correct it before it leaves the workshop.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the original kept?
At the Ackland Art Museum of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, USA.
When was it painted?
About 1893, the dating the museum gives.
Is a frame included?
No. The canvas is stretched on a wooden frame and ready to hang without a picture frame; a frame can be chosen separately.
Is this a print?
No. It is painted by hand in oils, and the layers of paint can be seen and felt.
Is the painting suitable as a gift?
Yes, especially for someone who loves Paris, evening lights and rivers. If you would rather the recipient chose, there is a gift voucher.
- Subject: the dark silhouette of the Paris island with spires, a dome and flags against a glowing sky; the bridge and lights in the river.
- Original: oil on canvas, 81 x 100.5 cm, Ackland Art Museum, Chapel Hill; about 1893.
- Our version: hand-painted oil, nine sizes from 70 x 55 to 200 x 160 cm or to measure, unframed, photograph before dispatch.
- Of note: the lights in the windows are tiny yellow and red dabs that stretch into long reflections in the water.
