MURA · THE COLLECTION · THÉODORE ROUSSEAU

View of Saleve, near Geneva

View of Salève, near Geneva is an oil sketch on paper by Théodore Rousseau from 1834, painted during a three-month stay in the mountains of the Jura. It shows the Salève, the limestone ridge above Geneva, under a bank of cloud, and measures 39 by 62 cm. It hangs in Gallery 221 of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Théodore Rousseau · 1834 · Oil on paper, mounted to canvas · nineteenth century · story written 25 September 2026

What you are looking at

The museum describes steep, rocky outcroppings, plains dotted with shrubs, and the luminosity of moisture-laden clouds and sky, all conveyed with a few deft strokes. The Salève is a mountain of the French Prealps in Haute-Savoie, geologically part of the Jura chain, rising to 1,379 metres directly above the Geneva urban area; it is known as the Balcony of Geneva. The catalogue entry describes sunlight breaking across a broad mountain valley beneath gathering clouds.

How it was painted

Rousseau was born in Paris in 1812 and became a leading painter of the Barbizon School. The museum calls him an ardent explorer of the remotest corners of France and says this view was painted during a three-month stay in the Jura region. He had shown work at the Salons of 1831, 1833, 1834 and 1835, but in 1836 his large Paysage du Jura was rejected by the jury, and every one of eight further submissions was refused until 1849; the critic Théophile Thoré gave him the title le grand refusé. The museum notes the paradox: while his big canvases were kept out of the Salon, his smaller panoramic oil sketches, like this one, found mainstream admirers. He settled at Barbizon in 1848 and died in December 1867, with his friend Jean-François Millet at his side.

Where it went

The Art Institute's record gives no provenance and no exhibition history for the sketch. Its credit line reads: through prior gift of Henry Morgen, Ann G. Morgen, Meyer Wasser, and Ruth G. Wasser. It hangs in Gallery 221 alongside the museum's Corots.

Why it is in Mura

It belongs to Mura's Modern Colour collection with a majestic mood: mountain light and gathering cloud.