A work made of charcoal, with stumping and black pastel, heightened with touches of white chalk, on dark tan wove paper, laid down on tan wood pulp board.

In the Forest of Fontainbleau

c. 1850

Théodore Rousseau French, 1812-1867

France

The forest at Fontainebleau was a favorite subject of Barbizon artists, who were by its beauty and its proximity to Paris. Rousseau, a premier Barbizon painter, was attacked by critics in the 1830s and 1840s for his humble farm and forest scenes, which they considered to be "vulgar." The two figures in this landscape may be Rousseau himself and the adopted daughter of George Sand; the two were engaged in 1845.

Charcoal, with stumping and black pastel, heightened with touches of white chalk, on dark tan wove paper, laid down on tan wood pulp board

Prints and Drawings