View of a Lake 1797

Louis Léopold Boilly painted this landscape of a lake with oil on canvas. Boilly was known for his genre paintings and portraits, so landscape was an unusual departure for him. The materiality of oil paint is key to understanding this work. Note how Boilly used thin layers of paint, a technique known as glazing, to create the luminous quality of the water and sky. The brushstrokes are visible, particularly in the trees and reflections, revealing Boilly's process and his engagement with the materiality of paint. In the late 18th century, ready-made paints were becoming more widely available, impacting artistic practice by enabling artists to paint outdoors more easily. Boilly, however, might have mixed his own paints, grinding pigments and blending them with oil. The labor and skill involved in this process underscore the value placed on artistic craftsmanship at the time. This reflects a connection to traditional modes of making in an era of emerging industrialization.