A pair “Evening Rest”

Unknown artist

The mid-17th century

28 x 40 cm

Oil on canvas

Pre Barbizon school

Private collection

The realistic direction in landscape painting played an important role in French art - the so-called Barbizon school. This term comes from the name of the small picturesque village of Barbizon near Paris, where in the 1830-1840s many French artists came to study nature. Not satisfied with the traditions of academic art, devoid of living concreteness and national identity, they strove to Barbizon, where carefully examining all the changes taking place in nature, they painted pictures depicting modest corners of French nature.

Although the works of the masters of the Barbizon school are characterized by truthfulness and objectivity, the mood of the author, his emotions, and experiences are always felt in them. Nature in the Barbizon landscapes does not seem majestic and distant; it is close and understandable to people.

Often, artists painted the same place (forest,
river, pond) at different times of the day and under various weather conditions.