Nearly 120 paintings, pastels, and photographs reveal the pivotal role of the Forest of Fontainebleau in the development of 19th-century naturalistic landscape painting and early photography. The exhibition traces the evolution of landscape painting through the work of artists such as Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Theodore Rousseau, Jean-Francois Millet, and Claude Monet (whose experience in Fontainebleau inspired impressionism). Viewers can take a closer look at highlighted works in our new Web feature, as well as learn about Fontainebleau’s history, its flora and fauna, and village life in and around the artists colony.
Private collection, Courtesy of Douwes Fine Art (since 1805), Amsterdam.Once the domain and hunting ground of kings, the Forest of Fontainebleau, some thirty-five miles southeast of Paris, is where French landscape painting and photography took root. Rough and unspoiled, the forest was exalted as an example of nature in its purest state. Its distinctive terrain — verdant woods, magnificent old-growth trees, imposing rock formations, and stark plateaus — offered a wealth of motifs that attracted painters and photographers alike. The forest was such a point of national pride that a portion of it was set aside in 1861 as the first nature preserve in history.
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Jules Hereau
Monsieur Lafontaine Visits Barbizon, September 1859Private collection, Courtesy of Douwes Fine Art (since 1805), Amsterdam.Once the domain and hunting ground of kings, the Forest of Fontainebleau, some thirty-five miles southeast of Paris, is where French landscape painting and photography took root. Rough and unspoiled, the forest was exalted as an example of nature in its purest state. Its distinctive terrain — verdant woods, magnificent old-growth trees, imposing rock formations, and stark plateaus — offered a wealth of motifs that attracted painters and photographers alike. The forest was such a point of national pride that a portion of it was set aside in 1861 as the first nature preserve in history.
