Collections: European Art: Running Stream at San Cosimato

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Running Stream at San Cosimato

Bidauld earned a place among the pioneers of openair painting with a five-year stint working in the hidden corners of the Italian countryside during the 1780s. Rivers and streams offered an opportunity to study the contrast between the rough-edged rocks lining riverbeds and those worn smooth by centuries of running waters. These subjects posed a favorite challenge: capturing the constant motion of powerfully churning rapids and delicately swirling eddies. Here, Bidauld loaded a fine brush with white paint to convey the froth of the teeming waters, lending unexpected texture to an otherwise highly finished surface.


• Artist: Jean-Joseph-Xavier Bidauld, French, 1758-1846
• Medium: Oil on paper laid down on canvas
• Place Made: Italy
• Dates: 1788
• Dimensions: 12 1/4 x 19 5/8 in. (31.1 x 49.8 cm)
• Signature: Signed bottom left: "Bidauld/1788"
• Inscriptions: Verso: "Le Tesserone, à St. Cosimato/payé à M. Bidauld/deux milles Francs/en 1830/Lg."
• Collections: European Art
• Museum Location: This item is on view in Beaux-Arts Court, South, 3rd Floor
• Accession Number: 1996.93
• Credit Line: A. Augustus Healy Fund and the Healy Purchase Fund B
• Image: Overall, 1996.93.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
Jean-Joseph-Xavier Bidauld (French, 1758-1846). Running Stream at San Cosimato, 1788. Oil on paper laid down on canvas, 12 1/4 x 19 5/8 in. (31.1 x 49.8 cm) . Brooklyn Museum, A. Augustus Healy Fund and the Healy Purchase Fund B, 1996.93 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1996.93.jpg)