Forest of Fontainebleau, Cluster of Tall Trees Overlooking the Plain of Clair-Bois at the Edge of Bas-Bréau

Rousseau's monumental Forest of Fontainebleau canvas depicting tall trees overlooking the Plain of Clair-Bois at Bas-Bréau belongs to his grandest statements of the forest's sublime character. Bas-Bréau was one of Rousseau's most cherished sites within Fontainebleau, a section of ancient oaks that he painted repeatedly and that he campaigned to protect from logging in France's first organized conservation effort. His sense of the forest as a living monument deserving the same protection as historical buildings anticipated modern environmentalism by a century and gave his forest paintings a moral dimension beyond their formal achievement. The specific trees of this composition were documented by Rousseau over decades, their individual characters and the quality of light among them constituting a form of portraiture of the natural world.

This work demonstrates Théodore Rousseau's command of Romantic-period painting techniques.