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Your galleryIn the Forest of Fontainbleau
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Search for the two small figures among the trunks, then notice the white touches that open gaps of light within the canopy.
Rousseau used charcoal, black pastel, and touches of white chalk on dark paper to make this forest drawing. Softened dark marks gather into foliage, while firmer lines describe the branching trees. The small people remain secondary to the woodland, a subject that drew Barbizon artists to Fontainebleau near Paris.
Charcoal, with stumping and black pastel, heightened with touches of white chalk, on dark tan wove paper, laid down on tan wood pulp board · 28.5 × 42.4 cm · Art Institute of Chicago · Barbizon School
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Details and source
- Museum title
- In the Forest of Fontainbleau
- Artist
- Théodore Rousseau French, 1812-1867
- Date
- c. 1850
- Medium
- Charcoal, with stumping and black pastel, heightened with touches of white chalk, on dark tan wove paper, laid down on tan wood pulp board
- Dimensions
- 28.5 × 42.4 cm (11 1/4 × 16 3/4 in.)
- Credit line
- Harold Joachim Purchase Fund
- Image license
- CC0 1.0 · Public domain
- Museum record
- Art Institute of Chicago
Galler’s rooms and hanging scale are imagined. The image is the museum’s original digital reproduction.