1760
chalk
paper
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Dominant colour
Housetops behind a Wall is a 1760 chalk by Hubert Robert, a Romanticism work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This sketch shows simple houses with slanted roofs behind a low wall. In the foreground, a small figure sits on a stool, looking toward the buildings. Another tiny figure walks along a path below, carrying something. The ground is rough and uneven, with a few scattered bushes. The artist used quick, sketchy lines to show shapes instead of details. The buildings look plain, but the way light hits them gives a soft feel. Look up Robert, Hubert to see more of his quick sketches.
Hubert Robert (French pronunciation: ; 22 May 1733 – 15 April 1808) was a French painter in the school of Romanticism, noted especially for his landscape paintings and capricci, or semi-fictitious picturesque depictions of ruins in Italy and of France.
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