Landscape In The Surroundings Of Paris, Béguyer Du Marais De Chancourtois, Oil On Canvas Study

René Louis Maurice Béguyer du Marais de Chancourtois (Nantes, 1757 – Paris, 1817)

Landscape in the Surroundings of Paris

Oil on canvas study
22.3 × 29.5 cm
Pencil inscription on the reverse: Surroundings of Paris
Late 18th – early 19th century

Provenance

• Family collection of the artist
• Private collection, Eastern France

   The father of René Louis Maurice Béguyer de Chancourtois was a Nantes-based merchant who rose to the nobility. His godfather, who shared his name, served as rector of the University of Nantes. Trained in Paris, the young artist pursued both architecture under André François Peyre and painting with Nicolas René Jollain. Appointed architecte voyer (municipal surveyor-architect) of Nantes in 1787, he nevertheless developed a distinguished career as a landscape painter, exhibiting regularly at the Salon between 1791 and 1812.

 His work is characteristic of the historical landscape tradition, with subjects such as Landscape with Figures Representing the Death of Hippolytus (1791) and Landscape with Figures Depicting Oedipus at Colonus (1793). These compositions are complemented by views of Italy, reflecting travels undertaken prior to the Revolution. Works attributed to him—paintings, as well as drawings and watercolours inspired by Italy—have appeared on the art market, attesting to a refined classical sensibility and a high level of technical accomplishment.

From a family collection, the present landscape illustrates that, like his exact contemporary Pierre-Henri de Valenciennes (1750–1819), Chancourtois also produced oil studies directly from nature. These studies, more intimate in character and marked by a spontaneity that contrasts with the carefully constructed compositions of historical landscapes, were nonetheless essential to artistic practice, enabling a deeper understanding and mastery of natural forms.

Unlike many of his Italian views, this study was executed in the surroundings of Paris (as indicated on the reverse), at a time when such motifs attracted relatively little attention from artists. Salon records indicate that Chancourtois resided on rue du Petit-Bourbon-Saint-Sulpice, a location that allowed him easy access to the Parisian outskirts he explored in works such as this.