Eugène Etienne SORDET (1836-1915), "Aux Plans", oil on board, signed lower left "E. Sordet" and dated 1859. H. 24.5 x 34 cm Please note: Eugène Étienne Sordet (1836-1915) was a Swiss painter, principally known for his landscapes, following in the tradition of Swiss Romanticism. A pupil of Alexandre Calame (1810-1864), one of the greatest Swiss landscape painters of the 19th century, Sordet inherited from his master a meticulous attention to the effects of light and a realistic approach to Alpine nature. He favoured mountain and forest landscapes, characterised by the often dramatic interplay of light and shadow, and by his mastery of depicting natural atmospheres, with a romantic touch and an attention to detail typical of the Swiss Landscape School. He was one of a generation of artists who helped to perpetuate and enrich the heritage of nineteenth-century Swiss painting, celebrating nature through poetic realism. His pupil was Richard Ranft (1862-1931), and he acted as a bridge between the Swiss Romantic tradition and the emerging artistic trends of the turn of the twentieth century. This composition by Eugène Sordet, dated 1859, offers a luminous and peaceful vision of nature in the Swiss Alps. It features the characteristic elements of the Swiss Romantic school of landscape painting: great depth of field, a subtle interplay of light and shadow, and particular attention to topography and natural textures. Here, the eye is guided towards the imposing mountains in the background, whose contours, slightly blurred by the atmosphere, recall the influence of Alexandre Calame (see lot 299 in this sale). The addition of the wooden chalets and verdant pastures in the foreground lends a more picturesque and human dimension to the whole, reinforcing the idea of nature as both majestic and inhabited. The brushstrokes are precise yet supple, accurately capturing the effects of light on the green slopes and the shadows cast by the mountains. This painting bears witness to Sordet's sensitive view of nature: an admiration for the grandeur of the Alps, but also an attachment to Swiss rural scenes, where man and landscape coexist in harmony. It thus illustrates a calmer approach to Alpine Romanticism, in which nature is sublimated without being threatening.