The collection of the Sakha Republic National Art Museum includes the painting “Landscape with a Fisherman” attributed to the French artist Jean-Baptiste Le Prince.

The scene takes place on the banks of a small river. On the hill, among green trees, the artist depicted peasant houses and two round towers with pointed roofs. A low wooden bridge leads to them, along the edge of which there are three trees. In the foreground are the characters of the painting, busy with their simple tasks: a man standing in the water, apparently, pulls a fishing basket out of the water. On the shore, a fisherman in a hat and red trousers throws a fishing rod. To the right, there is a continuation of the reservoir with outstretched nets, in the depths a stone arched bridge is reflected in the blue waters of the river. The water surface also reflects the sky and green bunches of trees. The painter conveyed the charm of rural solitude, carefully painting the surrounding landscape with cozy houses surrounded by greenery. The life of the people depicted in the painting is unhurried, quiet and measured. The color palette of the painting is calm, with muted tones and transitions; the greenish-silver color is distinguished by lightness and harmony. Light white clouds float in the high blue sky. The landscape is decorative, it does not depict a specific place, but rather looks imagined by the artist himself.

Jean-Baptiste Le Prince (1734–1781) was a talented pupil of the famous French Rococo painter François Boucher. For some time, Le Prince, imitating the teacher, painted small landscapes in greenish-silver tones with arched bridges, reservoirs, rural houses, round towers among trees and pastoral idyllic scenes. The artist was born into the family of a sculptor and early felt a penchant for drawing. Le Prince studied drawing and painting in his hometown, but in 1750, a sixteen-year-old boy left Metz to enter the studio of François Boucher in Paris. He then continued his studies in Italy, but his career was most influenced by travels in Russia between 1757 and 1762. During the five years he spent in Russia, Le Prince traveled to many regions, from Lapland to Siberia. The artist made a large number of sketches, which became for him an inexhaustible source of inspiration for the rest of his life. Shortly after returning to France, Le Prince was accepted into the Royal Academy as a landscape painter. His works with their characteristic Russian elements enjoyed great success with the French public.