A pair of arched cave openings yawn in a steep, rocky cliff face that fills this horizontal painting. The cliff face is painted with dabs and textured strokes of slate gray, peachy tan, and muted blue, and some moss grows along crevices to our left. The opening to our left of center is four times the size of the smaller opening next to it. Murky green water reflects the shadowy openings and the pier-like stone between them. The water churns white over large boulders to our right, in the lower corner of the canvas. A pale-skinned man, minuscule in scale in front of the larger opening, stands…
Gallery mode Full size at the museum

La Grotte de la Loue

Gustave Courbet (French, 1819 - 1877)

1864

Medium
oil on canvas
Classification
Painting
Dimensions
overall: 98.4 x 130.4 cm (38 3/4 x 51 5/16 in.) ; framed: 126.4 x 155.3 cm (49 3/4 x 61 1/8 in.)
Culture
French
Museum
National Gallery of Art, CF
Credit line
Gift of Charles L. Lindemann
Rights
Public domain (NGA Open Access, CC0), as the museum states it.
Who can see it
Little Ones profiles and older: it shows gentle subjects for the very young. How works are placed

View at the National Gallery of Art

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