The Ursulines Museum in Mâcon, France, is presenting a groundbreaking exhibition dedicated to Gabriel Loppé (1825-1913), the first artist in art history to combine painting with mountaineering. Running until January 4, this rare showcase reveals the work of a painter who literally reached new heights by becoming the first to set up his easel at high altitudes, offering viewers unprecedented access to the previously inaccessible world of high mountain landscapes.
Loppé holds the historic distinction of being the first painter-mountaineer, breaking new ground both literally and artistically. Unlike the Romantic painters of the early 19th century who depicted mountains from frightening low angles, Loppé was the first to capture the reality of peaks, crevasses, and summits directly on location at altitude. Most remarkably, he became the first artist to set up his easel at the summit of Mont Blanc, creating works that revealed mountain landscapes as they had never been seen before.
While Loppé was a contemporary of the Impressionists, he did not belong to their movement, though he shared their fascination with mists and ephemeral light effects. Instead, he drew inspiration from his landscape painting predecessors, particularly admiring the works of Corot and Turner. Rather than being a follower of artistic trends, Loppé was truly a pioneer – quite literally a 'first on the rope' in mountaineering terms.
The exhibition features works like 'Glacier Study' from 1873, which shows a view of the Bossons Glacier in the Mont Blanc massif. These paintings demonstrate Loppé's unique ability to capture the alpine environment with scientific precision while maintaining artistic sensitivity. His work represents a rare and largely unknown body of art that combines the technical challenges of high-altitude painting with the aesthetic demands of landscape art.
This comprehensive exhibition at the Ursulines Museum offers visitors a chance to discover an artist whose contributions to both art and mountaineering have been largely overlooked by mainstream art history. Loppé's legacy lies in his pioneering spirit that opened up entirely new subject matter for artistic exploration, literally elevating landscape painting to unprecedented heights.
