Environs de Clermont-Ferrand

Environs de Clermont-Ferrand by Albert Lebourg from 1900, held in the Wallraf-Richartz Museum, depicts the landscape surrounding the volcanic city of Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne — an unusual subject for an artist closely associated with the Norman Seine valley and Rouen. Lebourg, who had studied and worked in Algeria and returned to France as a committed Impressionist, occasionally traveled beyond his usual Normandy territory. The Auvergne's distinctive landscape — dominated by the ancient Puy de Dôme volcano and the Massif Central's dramatic topography — presented a very different set of pictorial problems from the gentle Seine valley. This work documents an excursion into France's volcanic interior.

Lebourg applies his characteristic Impressionist handling — light, broken strokes building tonal relationships through juxtaposed touches of color — to the Auvergne landscape's particular light conditions and volcanic terrain. His palette is somewhat warmer and drier than his Normandy river scenes.