LE MONT BLANC PEINT PAR JEAN-ANTOINE LINCK

JEAN-ANTOINE LINCK (1766-1843)
Le Mont Blanc (4807, 8 m)
France- Italie

In Le mont blanc vu de vallée Chamonix, 1805, Gravure, Musée des beaux arts de Genève

La montagne
Le mont Blanc (4807, 8m) en italien : Monte Bianco, dans le massif du Mont-Blanc, est le point culminant de la chaîne des Alpes. Il est le plus haut sommet d'Europe occidentale et le sixième sur le plan continental en prenant en compte les montagnes du Caucase, dont l'Elbrouz (5 643 mètres) est le plus haut sommet. Il se situe sur la frontière franco-italienne, entre le département de la Haute-Savoie (en France) et la région autonome de la Vallée d'Aoste (en Italie) ; cette frontière est l'objet d'un litige historique entre les deux pays. Le sommet, objet de fascination dans de nombreuses œuvres culturelles, a depuis plusieurs siècles représenté un objectif pour toutes sortes d'aventuriers, depuis sa première ascension en 1786. De nombreux itinéraires fréquentés permettent désormais de le gravir avec une préparation sérieuse. Afin de déterminer son altitude précise et quantifier l'évolution de celle-ci, des géomètres experts font l'ascension périodiquement. La dernière mesure connue, en 2021, est de 4 807,8 mètres. Le seuil de surfréquentation du mont Blanc est atteint, avec 300 à 400 départs par jour en été. Lors du sommet du Conseil national de la montagne qui s'est tenu à Sallanches, fin août 2006, il a été estimé que 25 000 à 30 000 personnes se sont lancées en 2005 à la conquête du mont Blanc. Avec l'ouverture des nouveaux marchés (Russie, Chine, Inde), ce sont 50 000 à 100 000 personnes qui pourraient demain tenter l'aventure, le chiffre de 200 000 ayant même été avancé. Ces perspectives sont cauchemardesques pour les défenseurs du site et pour certains responsables politiques de la vallée, comme le maire de Saint-Gervais-les-Bains, commune sur laquelle se situe le mont Blanc. Lors de l'été 2003, avec la sécheresse et une fréquentation accrue du site, plusieurs dizaines de tonnes de détritus et déchets divers ont été laissées par les alpinistes qui campaient dans le secteur du refuge du Goûter. L'association Pro-mont Blanc a édité en 2002 le livre Le versant noir du mont Blanc qui expose les problèmes actuels et futurs qui se posent pour conserver le site en l'état.

Le peintre
Jean-Antoine Linck, est un peintre et dessinateur Suisse. Il est le fils de Jean-Conrad, émailleur et graveur genevois qui initie son apprentissage. Il est ensuite formé par le graveur Carl Hackert1, en compagnie de Wolfgang Adam Toepffer. En 1802, il ouvre son propre atelier à Genève dans le quartier de Montbrillant. Ses œuvres, représentant les environs de Genève, la Savoie1et les Alpes, sont inspirées de celles de Johann Ludwig Aberli et remportent un franc succès auprès notamment de Joséphine de Beauharnais, de Lucien Bonaparte et de Catherine II au moment même oùle tourisme alpin commence à se développer.
En collaboration avec Carl Hackert, il produit des vues de Genève et de ses environs destinées à la vente, comme celles des jardins de Plainpalais. En 1805, il dessine le château de Saint-Loup à Versoix, un édifice finalement démoli en 1953

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2023 - Wandering Vertexes ....
Errant au-dessus des Sommets Silencieux...
Un blog de Francis Rousseau

THE MONT BLANC PAINTED BY JEAN-ANTOINE LINCK

 

 

 

JEAN-ANTOINE LINCK (1766-1843)
The Mont Blanc (4,808.73 m -15,777 ft)
France-Italy border

In Vue du Mont blanc à partir du Col de Balme, Estampe, 50 x50cm, 

Musée Alpin de Chamonix-Mont-Blanc

About this picture
This print represents the Chamonix valley seen from the Col de Balme. This point of view allows the spectator to embrace the major part of the Mont-Blanc massif and the valley bottom by following the course of the Arve. Jean-Antoine Linck offers a relatively realistic panorama, sometimes exaggerating the bristling of summits and seracs. In the foreground, the artist has placed a few figures who seem to be tourists in awe of the landscape accompanied by a guide leaning against the border post with his two mules. Linck was trained in Geneva in his father's workshop in the context of the "Fabrique" which brings together watchmakers, jewelers and painters on enamel. It was in this dynamic artistic environment of the second half of the 18th century that the first engravers appeared who made the Chamonix valley known through their watercolor prints. A real industry of landscape engraving is then set up. Linck is one of the greatest representatives of this artistic movement linked to the rise of alpine tourism and a new craze for the landscape. He creates high-quality etched works, very popular with travelers, which he sells in his Geneva boutique. In his "Manual of the traveler in Switzerland" of 1818, Ebel moreover advises the latter in order to find the best artists. He quotes Linck in particular and specifies that this print was worth 18 pounds, a fairly large sum for the time. Despite everything, the print is reproducible and cheaper than a painting. It therefore lends itself perfectly to the request of visitors to take with them views of the regions visited.

The artist
Jean-Antoine Linck, is a swiss painter and draftsman who lived and worked at the end of the 18th century and beginning of 19th century, at the time nature and mountains were up to date in high society in Switzerland and France.He is the son of Jean-Conrad, an enameller and engraver from Geneva who initiates his apprenticeship. He was then trained by Carl Hackert with Wolfgang Adam Toepffer. In 1802, he opened his own studio in Geneva, in the district of Montbrillant. His works, depicting the surroundings of Geneva, Savoy, the Alps and the Mont Blanc, were inspired by those of the great master of that " genre" Johann Ludwig Aberli and were successful with Josephine de Beauharnais, the French Empress and Catherine II, the Russian Empress, meanwhile alpine tourism began to develop

The mountain
The Mont Blanc (4,808.73 m -15,777 ft) or Monte Bianco, both meaning "White Mountain", is the highest mountain in the Alps and the highest in Europe after the Caucasus peaks. It is ranked 11th in the world in topographic prominence. The Mont Blanc is one of the Seven Summit, which includes the highest mountains of each of the seven continents. Summiting all of them is regarded as a mountaineering challenge, first achieved on April 30, 1985 by Richard Bass. The 7 highest summits, (which are obviously 8 with 2 in Europe !) are :
Mount Everest (8,848m), Aconcagua (6,961m), Mt Denali or Mc Kinley (6,194m), Kilimandjaro (5,895m), Mt Elbrus (5,642m), Mount Vinson (4,892m) and Mount Kosciuszko (2,228m) in Australia.
The mountain lies in a range called the Graian Alps, between the regions of Aosta Valley, Italy, and Savoie and Haute-Savoie, France. The location of the summit is on the watershed line between the valleys of Ferret and Veny in Italy and the valleys of Montjoie, and Arve in France. The Mont Blanc massif is popular for mountaineering, hiking, skiing, and snowboarding.
The three towns and their communes which surround Mont Blanc are Courmayeur in Aosta Valley, Italy, and Saint-Gervais-les-Bains and Chamonix in Haute-Savoie, France. A cable car ascends and crosses the mountain range from Courmayeur to Chamonix, through the Col du Géant. Constructed beginning in 1957 and completed in 1965, the 11.6 km (7¼ mi) Mont Blanc Tunnel runs beneath the mountain between these two countries and is one of the major trans-Alpine transport routes.
Since the French Revolution, the issue of the ownership of the summit has been debated.
From 1416 to 1792, the entire mountain was within the Duchy of Savoy. In 1723 the Duke of Savoy, Victor Amadeus II, acquired the Kingdom of Sardinia. The resulting state of Sardinia was to become preeminent in the Italian unification.[ In September 1792, the French revolutionary Army of the Alps under Anne-Pierre de Montesquiou-Fézensac seized Savoy without much resistance and created a department of the Mont-Blanc. In a treaty of 15 May 1796, Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia was forced to cede Savoy and Nice to France. A Sardinian Atlas map of 1869 showing the summit lying two thirds in Italy and one third in France.
Although the Franco-Italian border was redefined in both 1947 and 1963, the commission made up of both Italians and French ignored the Mont Blanc issue. In the early 21st century, administration of the mountain is shared between the Italian town of Courmayeur and the French town of Saint-Gervais-les-Bains, although the larger part of the mountain lies within the commune of the latter.

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2021 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau

THE DENTS DU MIDI PAINTED BY JEAN-ANTOINE LINCK

JEAN-ANTOINE LINCK (1766 - 1843)
Les Dents du Midi (3,114 m to 3,257 m -10,216 ft to10,685 ft)
Switzerland

In Vue la Dent du Midi et du Château de Lanex prise près d'Aigle, Original coloured etching, 36 x 48 cm

The mountain
The Dents du Midi (Teeth of the south) (3,114 m to 3,257 m -10,216 ft to 10,685 ft) are a mountain range, 3 kilometers long, located in the Chablais Alps in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. Overlooking the valley of Illiez and Rhône Valley on south, they face the lake Salanfe, an artificial reservoir, and are part of the geological whole massif Giffre.
The name "Dents du Midi" is recent. The people formerly called them "Dents Tsallen". It was only towards the end of the19e century that the name "Dents du Midi" came officially.
Each « tooth » had several names over the centuries and according to its geological evolution.
- The "Cime de l'Est" (3,178 meters) called "Mont Novierre" before the mid-17th century, and "Mont Saint-Michel "after landslides in 1635 and 1636 and finally "Dent Noire" (until the 19th century).
- The "Dent Jaune" (3,186 m) was called the "Dent Rouge" until 1879.
- The "Doigt de Champéry" (in 1882) and then the Doigt Salanfe (in 1886) turned just into "Les Doigts" (Fingers) (3,205 m and 3210 m).
- The "Haute Cime" (3,257 m) also had many names : "Dent de l’Ouest" (until 1784) and then "Dent du Midi", "Dent de Tsallen" and "Dent de Challent."
- As for l’Eperon (3,114 m) (The Spur), it is assumed that there were two peaks but a landslide in the Middle Ages significantly changed its crest.
- The Forteresse (3,164 m) and the Cathedral (3,160 m) have not changed names.
The evolution of this massif continues nowadays. So on the morning of 30 October 2006, a volume of 1 million m3 of rock broke away from the edge of the Haute Cime and slid down the slope to an altitude of about 3,000 m. The event did not present danger to the nearby village of Val-d'Illiez but roads and trails were closed for security reasons. According to the cantonal geologist, the landslide was caused by the thawing of rocks, helped by warm summers of recent years.


The artist
Jean-Antoine Linck, is a swiss painter and draftsman who lived and worked at the end of the 18th century and beginning of 19th century, at the time nature and mountains were up to date in high society in Switzerland and France.He is the son of Jean-Conrad, an enameller and engraver from Geneva who initiates his apprenticeship. He was then trained by Carl Hackert with Wolfgang Adam Toepffer. In 1802, he opened his own studio in Geneva, in the district of Montbrillant. His works, depicting the surroundings of Geneva, Savoy, the Alps and the Mont Blanc, were inspired by those of the great master of that " genre" Johann Ludwig Aberli and were successful with Josephine de Beauharnais, the French Empress and Catherine II, the Russian Empress, meanwhile alpine tourism began to develop.

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2021 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau

THE MONT BLANC BY JEAN-ANTOINE LINCK

JEAN-ANTOINE LINCK (1766-1843

 The Mont Blanc ( 4,808 m -15,777 ft)

France- Italy border 

 In Vue du massif du Mont-Blanc de Epaule droite des Aiguilles Vertes des Charmoz, du Plan du Midi, du Goute du Bionnassay, du Trelatete, des Montagnes du Prarion et Pormenaz, Aquatinta, Swiss National Library 

The mountain 

 The Mont Blanc ( 4,808.73 m -15,777 ft) or Monte Bianco, both meaning "White Mountain", is the highest mountain in the Alps and the highest in Europe after the Caucasus peaks. It is ranked 11th in the world in topographic prominence.  The Mont Blanc is one of the Seven Summit, which includes the highest mountains of each of the seven continents. Summiting all of them is regarded as a mountaineering challenge, first achieved on April 30, 1985 by Richard Bass.  The 7 highest summits, (which are obviously 8 with 2 in Europe !) are :  

Mount Everest (8,848m), Aconcagua (6,961m), Mt Denali or Mc Kinley (6,194m),  Kilimandjaro (5,895m), Mt Elbrus (5,642m), Mount Vinson (4,892m) and Mount Kosciuszko  (2,228m) in Australia.

The mountain lies in a range called the Graian Alps, between the regions of Aosta Valley, Italy, and Savoie and Haute-Savoie, France. The location of the summit is on the watershed line between the valleys of Ferret and Veny in Italy and the valleys of Montjoie, and Arve in France. The Mont Blanc massif is popular for mountaineering, hiking, skiing, and snowboarding.

The three towns and their communes which surround Mont Blanc are Courmayeur in Aosta Valley, Italy, and Saint-Gervais-les-Bains and Chamonix in Haute-Savoie, France.  A cable car ascends and crosses the mountain range from Courmayeur to Chamonix, through the Col du Géant. Constructed beginning in 1957 and completed in 1965, the 11.6 km (7¼ mi) Mont Blanc Tunnel runs beneath the mountain between these two countries and is one of the major trans-Alpine transport routes.

Since the French Revolution, the issue of the ownership of the summit has been debated. 

 In the early 21st century, administration of the mountain is shared between the Italian town of Courmayeur and the French town of Saint-Gervais-les-Bains, although the larger part of the mountain lies within the commune of the latter.

The artist

Jean-Antoine Linck, is a swiss painter and draftsman who lived and worked at the end of the 18th century and beginning of 19th century, at the time nature and mountains were up to date in high society  in Switzerland and France.He is the son of Jean-Conrad, an enameller and engraver from Geneva who initiates his apprenticeship. He was then trained by Carl Hackert with Wolfgang Adam Toepffer. In 1802, he opened his own studio in Geneva, in the district of Montbrillant. His works, depicting the surroundings of Geneva, Savoy, the Alps and the Mont Blanc, were inspired by those of the great master of that " genre" Johann Ludwig Aberli and were successful with Josephine de Beauharnais, the French Empress and Catherine II, the Russian Empress, meanwhile alpine tourism began to develop.

2018 - Wandering Vertexes...

by Francis Rousseau 

LES AIGUILLES DE CHARMOZ ENGRAVED BY JEAN-ANTOINE LINCK

JEAN-ANTOINE LINCK (1766-1843)

 Les Aiguilles du Grand  Charmoz (3,445m - 11,302ft)

France

In La Mer de glace et les Aiguilles de Chamoz, 1799, oil on canvas,
Bibliothèque publique et universitaire de Genève, Switzerland

The mountain 

The Aiguille des Grands Charmoz (3,445 m), is one of the Chamonix needles in the Mont Blanc massif. It is made up of a ridge bristling with " gendarmes", including La Carrée, and Bâton Wicks.

The first ascent was done on August 9, 1885 by H. Dunod and P. Vignon with the guides J. Desailloux, F. Folliguet, F. and G. Simond, by the corridor Charmoz-Grépon. It is today the normal way of descent, the climb generally being made by the south-west slope and the northwestern edge (AD +), climbed 15 July 1880 by Albert F. Mummery with Alexandre Burgener and Benedikt Venetz, which stopped before the summit at point 3 435 m. The Aiguille des Grands Charmoz is linked with the Aiguille du Grépon for the crossing of Charmoz-Grépon (D), one of the great rocky classics of the Mont Blanc massif. The first crossing was done by Laurent Croux in 1904. The first ascent of the north face, via the needle of the Republic, and crossing the edges of the Charmoz was done by Raymond Leininger and G. Bicavelle in 1946. In 1974, Jean-Claude Droyer succeeded the solo climb of the western pillar of the Grand Charmoz (Cordier lane opened in 1970 by Patrick Cordier).
The Mt Blanc is one of the 7 highest summits in earth, (which are obviously 8 with 2 in Europe !):
Mount Everest (8,848m), Aconcagua (6,961m), Mt Denali or Mc Kinley (6,194m),  Kilimandjaro (5,895m), Mt Elbrus (5,642m), Mount Vinson (4,892m) and Mount Kosciuszko  (2,228m) in Australia.

The artist

Jean-Antoine Linck, is a swiss painter and draftsman who lived and worked at the end of the 18th century and beginning of 19th century, at the time nature and mountains were up to date in high society  in Switzerland and France.He is the son of Jean-Conrad, an enameller and engraver from Geneva who initiates his apprenticeship. He was then trained by Carl Hackert with Wolfgang Adam Toepffer. In 1802, he opened his own studio in Geneva, in the district of Montbrillant. His works, depicting the surroundings of Geneva, Savoy, the Alps and the Mont Blanc, were inspired by those of the great master of that " genre" Johann Ludwig Aberli and were successful with Josephine de Beauharnais, the French Empress and Catherine II, the Russian Empress, meanwhile alpine tourism began to develop.