Title: Forest of Fontainebleau

Artist: Théodore Rousseau

Forest of Fontainebleau, Cluster of Tall Trees Overlooking the Plain of Clair-Bois at the Edge of Bas-Bréau About 1849–52 Théodore Rousseau French, Paris 1812–Barbizon 1867 Oil on canvas The trees of the Forest of Fontainebleau, just steps from Rousseau's residence in the village of Barbizon, evoked for the artist an ancient and heroic French past and gave expression to his pantheistic belief in the divinity of natural creation. Situated between two broken trunks, a stalwart oak with extensive branching and a broad canopy is this picture's chief protagonist, its monumentality underscored by the tiny herdsman and cattle approaching a pool of water nearby. Rousseau's fluid, dynamic brushwork infuses the bucolic scene with tremendous vital energy. Such grand yet sketch-like paintings posed a serious challenge to traditional notions of "finish."