View in the Île-de-France Gm-30859601

Jean-Victor Bertin (French, 1767–1842) This plein air (made outdoors) oil sketch by Jean-Victor Bertin captures the graceful curve of a sunlit bridge on the outskirts of a French village in the early 1800s. A steep hillside ridge in the distance echoes this line of light tracing the roadway, dividing the image into thirds. At the painting's center, horizontal shapes meet vertical ones, created by the upward thrust of village dwellings. Interestingly, the artist's careful observation of light both enhances and obscures this obsession with geometry. Late afternoon sun throws most of the scene's natural and manmade subjects into shadow, with surprising punctuations of color and light in the sky and foreground.

Bertin's Neoclassical approach to landscape painting reflects that movement's emphasis on structure and form, as evident here in a calculated arrangement of forms for overall harmony. Like other landscape painters of his time, Bertin made outdoor sketches not to exhibit them, but to record the effects of light and atmosphere so he could recreate them in highly finished works made in the studio. This sketch was meant to inform those polished yet imaginary landscapes, making them more convincing to the eye.

We make each of our prints one at a time—just for you.

Our Giclée Prints are printed here in Switzerland, one at a time, on heavy matte German art paper using the finest 12-color Canon archival inks. Some images are panoramic or tall and narrow—please select the 18" x 36" format for these.

Our Premium Museum Frame in Black is custom-made in Lugano, Switzerland, using natural wood moulding in a matte black satin finish. Each includes thick, hand-cut white mat boards and Plexiglass glazing. We tailor and print each image to fit its specific ratio and dimensions within our custom-made frames. The hand-cut mats are extra thick. Each bespoke museum frame ships in a custom box. Rush shipping is available for projects with tight deadlines—this is our specialty, and you will not be disappointed.

Our Antiqued Museum Frame in Gold is a high-quality frame made of solid wood, featuring traditional 19th-century cast plaster moulded details and closed corners. These frames are works of art in themselves, each with a unique patina. The hand-rubbed corners and gold finish evoke the elegance of times past. Your selected image is printed on German art paper with archival inks and mounted to quality art board within the frame. Plexiglass is added for print protection and the back is covered with Kraft paper and a hanger is supplied ready to hang..

Our Stretched Canvas prints are hand-stretched over 1.25" thick pine bars and printed with archival inks on a cotton-poly matte finish canvas. These are best-in-industry Swiss-quality canvases, hand-coated for UV protection.

Wall Murals are printed on a matte-finish, self-adhesive poly/fabric material that mounts easily and is ideal for smooth wall surfaces.

Our Note Cards are amazing—each is printed individually on 100% cotton art paper, comes with a kraft envelope, and is individually sleeved. (Image is scaled to fit the format.)

All of our images are digitized from the original negative or print and printed by our master printer to museum standards.

Questions? Please email service@archivea.com or call/text +41 79 265 8891.

Artwork in this collection is from The J. Paul Getty Museum. Reproduction rights are reserved by the copyright owner and used under license by Archivea GmbH.