Barbizon
School
In the early to mid-nineteenth century
a number of French artists travelled to a small
village 40 miles south-west of Paris. The village is
called Barbizon and lies on the outskirts of the
Forest of Fontainebleau. Far from the pressures of
city life, these artists were able to take their
easels into the countryside and paint from nature in
the open air. They painted gentle landscapes and
people at work in the fields, and studied the
fleeting effects of light and atmospheric effects on
the world around them. Many of the Barbizon artists
have been virtually forgotten, and a number of their
discoveries have been attributed to the
Impressionists who later exploited their innovatory
techniques.
Representative painters:
Corot, Courbet, Daubigny, Millet, T.
Rousseau