Alexandre Calame

Alexandre Calame was a Swiss painter famous for dramatic images of the Alps. Born near Geneva in 1810, he overcame early hardship, including the loss of an eye, to become the leading Alpine landscape painter of his generation. He specialized in grand mountain scenes, storm-battered pines, rocky gorges, and towering peaks, painted with a Romantic sense of nature's power.

His work was hugely popular across Europe, and through his teaching and prints he spread a taste for majestic mountain scenery far and wide. He balanced sweeping drama with careful study of rocks, trees, and light. Calame's powerful Alpine views helped shape the nineteenth century image of the mountains as places of awe and grandeur.