The Slopes of Navao, Picos de Europa

Maker David Bomberg (British, 1890 - 1957)

Collections

Art Collectors' Council: 1995 - 2024

ClassificationsPAINTINGS

Date1935

Mediumoil on canvas

Dimensionsoverall: 33 11/16 x 41 1/8 in. (85.5 x 104.5 cm.) frame: 41 1/8 x 48 7/16 x 1 9/16 in. (104.5 x 123 x 4 cm.)

DescriptionThis painting portrays a dramatic view of a mountain pass in northern Spain.

Signedsigned and dates Bomberg 35 at the lower right, and inscribed on the stretcher The Slopes of Navao Picos De Europs Asturias/David Bomberg Spain 1935

Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. Purchased with funds from the Art Collectors' Council. Gift of Dr. Charles H. Strub and Mr. John Balderston by exchange

Status

On view

Label TextThis dramatic view of a mountain pass, worked with intense colors and broad, free brushstrokes, is Bomberg’s response to the grandeur of the landscape of northern Spain, where he had moved with his family in 1935. From a vertiginous vantage point, a road winds toward towering gray peaks that pierce the distant clouds. Bomberg recalled this particular landscape’s “precipitous ledges” and “awesome gorges,” and his painting conveys the exhilaration of traveling through the region. In its attempt to capture the experience of landscape, "The Slopes of Navao" is akin to the work of 19th-century artist John Constable, whose paintings sought to express the feeling of changing light and weather conditions upon the English countryside.

Object number2016.7