Bassin de Neptune, Versailles

Carroll Beckwith, Bassin de Neptune, Versailles, 1913, oil on canvas, 24 x 20 in. (60.9 x 50.8 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from Cooper-Hewitt Museum of Decorative Arts and Design, Smithsonian Institution, 1974.69.18

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Artwork Details

Title: Bassin de Neptune, Versailles
Artist: Carroll Beckwith
Date: 1913
Location: Not on view
Dimensions: 24 x 20 in. (60.9 x 50.8 cm.)
Credit Line: Transfer from Cooper-Hewitt Museum of Decorative Arts and Design, Smithsonian Institution
Mediums: oil
Mediums Description: oil on canvas
Classifications: Painting
Subjects: Monument — fountain — Bassin de Neptune
Landscape — park — Versailles Gardens
Landscape — France — Versailles
Object Number: 1974.69.18
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1974.69.18

Artwork Description

James Carroll Beckwith painted this scene of the Neptune Fountain during one of several trips he made to Versailles. There was a movement at the time to restore the grandeur of the French palace, which may have inspired Beckwith to paint scenes of the gardens there. (Franchi and Weber, Intimate Revelations: The Art of Carroll Beckwith (1852-1917), 1999) In this painting, Beckwith captured the splendor of Versailles at the height of midsummer in the watery reflection of the trees and green knolls, and the yellow light that dances on the surface of the classical statues.