Snowy Landscape, Klosters Cavadurli, Silvretta, Switzerland

Oil on canvas by Clément Castelli depicting Cavadürli in Klosters and the Silvretta range. This luxury artwork captures the high-alpine atmosphere through a rich, textured palette knife execution showing beautiful natural patina.

Technical Information:

Code: QM252
Period: circa 1910
Origin: Paris
Author: Clément Castelli (1870-1959)
Technique: oil on canvas

Artwork dimensions: 38 x 55 cm (15.0 x 21.6 inches)
Dimensions with frame: 70 cm x 53 cm (27.5 x 20.8 inches)

Description:

This Clément Castelli alpine landscape painting depicts the hamlet of Cavadürli, situated in the Swiss municipality of Klosters. The composition unfolds from a foreground dominated by a steep, snow-covered slope, interrupted on the left by the silhouette of a dark wooden barn with a gabled roof entirely enveloped in thick snow. A trodden diagonal path cuts through the snow, guiding the viewer’s eye toward the background where the majestic Silvretta mountain range stands out, partially blanketed in snow and silhouetted against a clear sky of blue-gray tones.

The pictorial rendering shows an execution carried out predominantly with a palette knife and a loaded brush, a technique that gives sculptural relief and rich material thickness both to the rocky walls and the volumes of snow, highlighting its natural luster and patina. The color palette is set on a cool range of whites, grays, and shades of blue, contrasted by the warm brown tones of the wooden structure and delicate pink passages describing the incidence of sunlight on the luxury alpine peaks.

The artwork is signed on the lower right. On the reverse of the canvas, a coeval handwritten inscription identifies the painter and the precise geographical location (“Klosters – Cavadürli – Schweiz”), accompanied by a circular stamp bearing the painter’s name and city: Paris. The painting is set within a beautifully carved wooden frame with continuous leafy scroll motifs, finished in elegant tones of white and gray, and completed with gold highlights.

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Clément-François Castelli (1870 – 1959)

Born in Premia (Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, Piedmont) in 1870 to a family originally from Varzo, Clément Castelli moved to Paris in 1880 to complete his education. He split his life between France (Paris and the Alps) and Italy.
Trained at the Free Academy of Rome and further perfecting his skills during an artistic “Grand Tour” of Italy, he studied in France under painters Jules Adler and Léon Bellemont. In 1925, he co-organized and exhibited at the Italo-Swiss Exhibition in Domodossola, where he was awarded a vermeil medal by King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, and the municipality purchased two of his canvases for its museum.
An active member of the prestigious Société des Peintres de Montagne (Society of Mountain Painters) since 1927, he became its exhibition curator in 1934, a role he held until his tragic death in Paris in 1959 after being struck by a car.

Career and Achievements

  • Paris Salons: Exhibited regularly at the Salon des Indépendants (from 1913), the Salon des Artistes Français (from 1921), the Salon Violet (Silver Medal in 1938), and the Salon d’Hiver between 1942 and 1951.

  • Museum Collections: Two of his landscapes were admitted into the collections of the Louvre Museum (the first in 1948).

  • Honors: Named Officier d’Académie (1933) and Officier de l’Instruction Publique (1948).

  • Restoration Work: Highly regarded restorer of ancient paintings and expert in the relining technique. In 1915, he discovered and restored an important 15th-century fresco hidden under thick whitewash in the parish church of Varzo.

Style and Subjects

Castelli is primarily considered a mountain painter, thanks to his skills as an experienced mountaineer which allowed him to reach high altitudes.

  • Main Subjects: The great peaks of the French Alps (Chamonix Valley, La Meije, Oisans), Swiss Alps (numerous depictions of the Matterhorn), and Italian Alps. He also painted Pyrenean landscapes (Cirque de Gavarnie, Lake Gaube, Ossau Valley).

  • Technique and Palette: A highly prolific artist, he painted on both canvas and small wooden panels (easier to carry to high altitudes). His work features a classical brushstroke and a distinctive, “cool” color palette, ideal for capturing the light and atmosphere of glaciers and alpine valleys.

  • Archival Note: His Paris studio was located at 4, Rue du Faubourg-du-Temple (often identifiable by a stamp on the back of the artworks).