The image shows a landscape with a lower perspective looking up at a large hillside or cliffs. The horizon is positioned in the upper third of the image, marked by the crest of the hill. Wispy clouds are seen just below this line in the sky. The hillside has broad brushstrokes indicating a rough texture, while trees below it are painted with intricate, shorter strokes. A body of water flows horizontally in front, with its surface depicted using horizontal brushstrokes. The color palette is monochromatic, consisting of different shades of brown.
Read the visual description

The image shows a landscape with a lower perspective looking up at a large hillside or cliffs. The horizon is positioned in the upper third of the image, marked by the crest of the hill. Wispy clouds are seen just below this line in the sky. The hillside has broad brushstrokes indicating a rough texture, while trees below it are painted with intricate, shorter strokes. A body of water flows horizontally in front, with its surface depicted using horizontal brushstrokes. The color palette is monochromatic, consisting of different shades of brown.

National Gallery of Art · Drawing

A River Bank with Mountains Beyond

Franz Innocenz Josef Kobell

Medium
brown wash on laid paper
Dimensions
overall: 16.3 x 20 cm (6 7/16 x 7 7/8 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Accession number
1993.1.3
Credit line
Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund
Time span
1726 to 1750
Department
CG-E

Subjects and terms

  • German
  • Landscape
  • topographical
  • landscape
  • River
Provenance

sale, Sotheby's, Munich, 10 December 1992, lot 119; via Galerie Arnoldi-Livie, Munich; purchased 1993 by NGA.

Inscription

by later hand, lower center verso in graphite: [?] 4909 / S77

Watermarks

HONIG

NGA object ID 79327. Collection metadata is reproduced under CC0. This work is included because its NGA published-image record is marked open access; visitors should recheck the source record before substantial reuse.