A painting of Mont Blanc by Angelo Abrate available from John Mitchell Fine Paintings.
The annual exhibition runs until March 31 at the Mayfair, London, gallery.
Painted by Angelo Abrate (1900-85), the oil on panel shows the south face of the mountain.
Determining the exact terrain and vantage points that make up these pictures is important work for the gallery.
In his introduction to the catalogue dealer William Mitchell calls on those who travel to the Alps and other destinations included to help identify the exact situations of the various scenes. This endeavour also helps build out a then-and-now picture of the region, which in turn shows how the slopes have transformed over time - often under human intervention.
Setting the scene
Of Lake Chérouit he notes: “Today, it is easily accessible by a telecabine lift from Courmayeur and its view to the north, across the wooded Val Veny is spectacular. Seen from this side Mont Blanc’s Brouillard and Innominata glaciers and ridges give the enormous mountain a Himalayan character.”
Mitchell was recently made Keeper of Pictures to the Alpine Club. Last year he also organised and joined an expedition to the summit of Mont Blanc where Contemporary artist James Hart Dyke recreated two sunset scenes that painter and mountaineer Gabriel Loppé (1825-1913) completed in 1873. These will be exhibited at the Cromwell Place art exhibition hub in South Kensington starting in September.
Mitchell runs the gallery with James Mitchell (the pair are grandsons of the gallery’s founder) and James Astley Birtwistle.
