The Village of Becquigny
1857-1867
Naturalism
Oil on mahogany panel
The Frick Collection, New York, USA
A man semi-hidden by the shadows of a tree is walking between rows of thatched cottages beneath an azure blue sky. “The Village of Becquigny” resonates with the man’s apparent loneliness. Inspired by Rousseau’s travels through Picardy in 1857, his approach to the work is almost anthropological exotica. However, Rousseau avoids over-emphasizing the human dwellings so the cottages appear as hilly extensions of the soil foreground.
Théodore Rousseau
The Barbizon School, Naturalism, Romanticism
Born: 15 April 1812, Paris, France
Nationality: French
Died: 22 December 1867, Barbizon, France
Rousseau was renowned for his unconventional nature-based painting. He was regarded as a pioneer of the Barbizon School of landscape art. Rousseau was one of the earliest artists to venture outdoors to observe and analyze natural forms directly. Painting landscapes for their own sake Rousseau elevated its status from mere background to that of an independent entity.
Jezzie G 