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Pool in the Forest
Théodore Rousseau (French, 1812–1867)
early 1850s
Medium/Technique
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
39.4 x 57.4 cm (15 1/2 x 22 5/8 in.)
Credit Line
Robert Dawson Evans Collection
Accession Number17.3241
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsPaintings
Although landscape painting as a genre slowly gained recognition, Rousseau was repeatedly rejected for the Paris Salon, earning himself the nickname "le grand refusé." Following the political upheaval of the Revolution of 1848, changes in the arts administration of the French state resulted in new Salon regulations, which were more supportive of artists like Rousseau and his Barbizon contemporaries. This forest view is typical of his style of this period: shadowy trees appear silhouetted against a sunlit field, as reflections of autumnal colors ripple in the watery surface below.
InscriptionsLower right: T H Rousseau
ProvenancePossibly with a Mr. Garnier, probably Henri Garnier, Paris [see note 1]. Robert Dawson Evans (b. 1843 - d. 1909) and his wife, Maria Antoinette Hunt Evans (b. 1845 - d. 1917), Boston; 1917, bequest of Mrs. Robert Dawson Evans to the MFA. (Accession Date: November 1, 1917)
NOTE:
[1] According to documents in curatorial file, from the Evans estate.
NOTE:
[1] According to documents in curatorial file, from the Evans estate.