Théodore Rousseau, Paysage animé, oil on panel, 12 x 15 in.
In France, the innovative Barbizon artists were among the first to represent the natural world in an entirely new way, free of the stultifying conventions and strictures of the French Academy. Their paintings depict the untamed countryside that they actually saw as they wandered through the forest and plains near the small town of Barbizon.
The unadorned vitality of their work greatly influenced such major realist painters as Gustave Courbet, while their fondness for painting en plein air under natural lighting conditions also influenced Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, Alfred Sisley and other Impressionist painters who followed. Similarly, the influence of their painting technique, with its looser brushstrokes and more ‘painterly’ styles, stretched even to the 20th century. Few art movements in history can claim such a wide reach and range of influence.
Our exhibition includes some of the great artists of the 19th century artistic pantheon including: Daubigny, Diaz, Japy, Lavieille, Morisot, Richet, Rousseau, and Veyrassat.
MORE INFORMATION
THE COLLECTION
VIDEO
In 1817, the little town of Barbizon became the birthplace for a new movement in landscape painting. Revisit the location where these young artists gathered, which would later be home to the Impressionist painters.
Executive Producers: Dr. Jean Audigier, Steve Kurzfeld
Directors: Dr. Jean Audigier, Steve Kurzfeld
In Charge of Production: Scott Saraceno
Running Time: 13 minutes