Forest of Fontainebleau
Historical Context
Corot's Forest of Fontainebleau from 1834 depicts the ancient royal forest that was central to the Barbizon movement he helped found. Fontainebleau was a complex subject — vast, ancient, geologically diverse, with specific zones of rock outcrop, dense forest, and open clearings that provided different pictorial challenges. Corot's 1834 visit preceded his decisive commitment to Barbizon as a primary working location and shows him developing the technique of forest interior painting — the management of light filtering through dense canopy — that would become central to his mature French landscape practice after his Italian training had established the essential foundations.
Technical Analysis
Corot's early forest painting shows more structured, classical composition than his later, more atmospheric works. The trees are rendered with careful attention to their specific forms and the quality of light filtering through the canopy. The palette is natural and warm, with rich greens and earthy browns applied with the descriptive precision of his early period.
Provenance
Louis-Alfred Binant [1823-1904], Paris, by 1855;[1] (his sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 20 April 1904, no. 18); purchased by (Bernheim-Jeune, Paris).[2] Léon Orosdi, Paris, sometime after 1913.[3] (Galerie André Weil, Paris);[4] (Etienne Bignou, Paris); sold 25 June 1934 to Chester Dale [1883-1962], New York; bequest 1963 to NGA. [1] Alfred Robaut, _L'oeuvre de Corot_, Paris, 1905: II:90, no. 255. Lent by "M. Binand" to _Exposition de centenaire de Corot_, Palais Galliéra, Paris, 1895, no. 18; this seems likely to be a misspelling in the catalogue. [2] Robaut 1905 (see note 1) and reported in the _New York Herald_, 21 April 1904. [3] This painting was not included in the sale of Orosdi's collection held at Drouot on 25 May 1923. [4] Orosdi/Galerie Weil provenance from Chester Dale papers in NGA curatorial records, and the Bignou photograph albums at the Documentation, Musée d'Orsay (copies in NGA curatorial files).
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