Cows and a Goat in a Landscape
1774
Medium
Gray, brown, and white gouache
Dimensions
17 x 24 1/16 in. (43.2 x 61.1 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Martin Birnbaum, 1965
Accession Number
65.42
Tags
Art Historical Context
Jean Pillement’s “Cows and a Goat in a Landscape” (1774) offers a quiet glimpse of rural life rendered with great sensitivity. Working in a restrained palette of gray, brown, and white gouache, the artist builds soft gradations of tone that suggest both the gentle contours of the animals and the airy expanse of the surrounding countryside. Gouache’s opaque yet velvety quality allows Pillement to capture the play of light across hides and foliage while keeping the overall mood intimate and contemplative. The drawing reflects the eighteenth-century taste for pastoral subjects that celebrated ha...