GENERAL DESCRIPTION
"I could hear the voices of the trees . . . their unexpected movements, their various shapes, even their particular attraction toward light, which had suddenly revealed the language of the forest to me. . . . I wanted to converse with them and be able to tell myself that I had touched on the secret of their greatness through the language of painting.”
—Théodore Rousseau
This painting is typical of the landscapes of the Barbizon school, a group of French painters who worked in and around the Forest of Fontainebleau, specifically the village of Barbizon about thirty-five miles southeast of Paris, in the mid-19th century. Their goals were to rediscover the magic of untouched nature and to celebrate everyday rural life in all its commonplace, unembellished details. In this work, we see a grove of oaks, their gnarled trunks dramatically illuminated by a few shafts of light that penetrate the otherwise somber forest. The presence of man is almost completely absent from this painting, except for the small hut next to a craggy oak tree, barely visible in the wild, overgrown landscape. The artist’s loose brushwork and attention to rendering the fleeting effects of light and atmosphere were influential in the development of Impressionism in the 1870s.
Adapted from
- DMA label copy.
- Heather MacDonald, DMA label copy, 2010.
NOTES
Created c. 1850
Checked Piction
"I could hear the voices of the trees . . . their unexpected movements, their various shapes, even their particular attraction toward light, which had suddenly revealed the language of the forest to me. . . . I wanted to converse with them and be able to tell myself that I had touched on the secret of their greatness through the language of painting.”
—Théodore Rousseau
The presence of man is almost completely absent from this painting, except for the small hut next to a craggy oak tree, barely visible in the wild, overgrown landscape. Théodore Rousseau lived in the French village of Barbizon, located in the forest of Fontainbleau, where he worked outside, directly observing the effect of changing light and atmosphere on the landscape around him.
Heather MacDonald, DMA label copy, 2010.
Confluence label copy:
This painting is typical of the landscapes of the Barbizon school, a group of French painters who worked in and around the Forest of Fontainebleau, specifically the village of Barbizon about thirty-five miles southeast of Paris, in the mid-19th century. Their goals were to rediscover the magic of untouched nature and to celebrate everyday rural life in all its commonplace, unembellished details. In this work, we see a grove of oaks, their gnarled trunks dramatically illuminated by a few shafts of light that penetrate the otherwise somber forest. The artist’s loose brushwork and attention to rendering the fleeting effects of light and atmosphere were influential in the development of Impressionism in the 1870s.
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Rousseau, Théodore (French, 1812-1867)
Cultures
Geography
Depicted location and place of origin: Barbizon (France): TGN: 7008938
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
IMAGE ASSETS
WEB RESOURCES
- National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC~Read a biography of Rousseau.
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES
FUN FACTS
TEACHING IDEAS
RULES
Apply to objects where number equals 1997.21
Category
rules_operator
AND
General Description
"I could hear the voices of the trees . . . their unexpected movements, their various shapes, even their particular attraction toward light, which had suddenly revealed the language of the forest to me. . . . I wanted to converse with them and be able to tell myself that I had touched on the secret of their greatness through the language of painting.”
—Théodore Rousseau
This painting is typical of the landscapes of the Barbizon school, a group of French painters who worked in and around the Forest of Fontainebleau, specifically the village of Barbizon about thirty-five miles southeast of Paris, in the mid-19th century. Their goals were to rediscover the magic of untouched nature and to celebrate everyday rural life in all its commonplace, unembellished details. In this work, we see a grove of oaks, their gnarled trunks dramatically illuminated by a few shafts of light that penetrate the otherwise somber forest. The presence of man is almost completely absent from this painting, except for the small hut next to a craggy oak tree, barely visible in the wild, overgrown landscape. The artist’s loose brushwork and attention to rendering the fleeting effects of light and atmosphere were influential in the development of Impressionism in the 1870s.
Adapted from
- DMA label copy.
- Heather MacDonald, DMA label copy, 2010.
Fun Facts
Archival Resources
Web Resources
Notes
Created c. 1850
Checked Piction
"I could hear the voices of the trees . . . their unexpected movements, their various shapes, even their particular attraction toward light, which had suddenly revealed the language of the forest to me. . . . I wanted to converse with them and be able to tell myself that I had touched on the secret of their greatness through the language of painting.”
—Théodore Rousseau
The presence of man is almost completely absent from this painting, except for the small hut next to a craggy oak tree, barely visible in the wild, overgrown landscape. Théodore Rousseau lived in the French village of Barbizon, located in the forest of Fontainbleau, where he worked outside, directly observing the effect of changing light and atmosphere on the landscape around him.
Heather MacDonald, DMA label copy, 2010.
Confluence label copy:
This painting is typical of the landscapes of the Barbizon school, a group of French painters who worked in and around the Forest of Fontainebleau, specifically the village of Barbizon about thirty-five miles southeast of Paris, in the mid-19th century. Their goals were to rediscover the magic of untouched nature and to celebrate everyday rural life in all its commonplace, unembellished details. In this work, we see a grove of oaks, their gnarled trunks dramatically illuminated by a few shafts of light that penetrate the otherwise somber forest. The artist’s loose brushwork and attention to rendering the fleeting effects of light and atmosphere were influential in the development of Impressionism in the 1870s.
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Rousseau, Théodore (French, 1812-1867)
Cultures
Geography
Depicted location and place of origin: Barbizon (France): TGN: 7008938
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
rules
Apply To
Objects
number
Equals
1997.21
source file
object_notes_2_b-0400.xml.nores