Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) is without doubt the best-known English painter of the 18th century. Many exhibitions are still devoted to him today. He is known as one of the leading painters of the aesthetic of the sublime and for his great talent, particularly in watercolor. Although his strokes are forced, he is often ... Read more

Caspar Wolf (1735-1783) was one of the first artists to explore and paint the Alps, between 1774 and 1779. Although he painted other subjects, it was precisely as a painter of the Alps that he passed into posterity. Even his contemporaries emphasized Wolf's innovative side, as Karl Gottlob Küttner did in August 1778: ... Read more

The 18th century saw a real craze for the Alps, with a huge influx of travellers. There were a number of reasons for this, which we'll develop below, but it was the result of a slow evolution. Dragons in the Alps The early 18th century was still marked by the ... Read more

The 17th century had a more mixed relationship with the mountains than the 16th century, and sometimes a more negative one. This was partly due to the slight cooling of the climate at the time. Glaciers were on the rise, sometimes sweeping away churches and fields in their path, causing great damage, but also making it easier to ... Read more

Although mountains occupy a central place in many civilizations and mythologies - being the refuge of the gods, for example - it's only in recent times that man has taken an interest in them. Petrarch's ascent of Mont Ventoux on April 26, 1335 was one of the very first of its kind. It is often regarded as the first ... Read more

The life of John Ruskin (1819-1900), British writer, poet, art critic and painter, is closely linked to the Alps. A great traveler who visited the continent many times, and more particularly Switzerland and Italy, he saw the Alps for the first time from Schaffhausen, during his first trip to Switzerland in ... Read more