The Barbizon School is a school of painting that emerged in France between 1830 and 1880 to depict natural landscapes, which opposed the mainstream painters' way of creating only indoors, advocating going to the middle of nature to paint, absorbing the inspiration of nature, and integrating the self, canvas, art and nature.
To some extent, they used the proposition of "Taoist nature" to express reality, breaking the rules and regulations established by the art world at that time, and expressing resistance and breakthrough to the mainstream art creation method at that time.
Presented here is a major painter of the Barbizon school, Constant Troyon, who was born in France and studied and created in the Netherlands.
"On the Way to the Bazaar"
Created from 1858 to 1859
Dimensions: 92 × 73.4 cm
In the collection of the Henry Field Memorial
A farmer is herding a flock of sheep to the market to sell, the mother sits on the cow, the father wears a hat and drives the sheep in the back to prevent it from getting lost, while the child talks to the mother in detail in the middle.
This painting uses blurred tones to create a vast atmosphere, blending the road and the characters together, giving people a sense of vicissitudes and sadness, and showing the hardships of the life of the French peasant family at that time in a realistic way.
Ranches in Normandy
The shadows of the clouds and the brightness of the sunlight reflected on the cows and meadows reach a contrast, creating a sense of loneliness in a herd of cattle and sheep waiting for a storm, and the trees behind them towering into the vast and dim sky, further deepening the loneliness of life in nature.
"The Cow Resting by the River"
A French peasant woman, after busy farming, took the calves to the river to drink, leaving a large space to depict the sky, and the clouds accounted for many of the areas, and the sunlight from the very top of the painting was shining on the peasant women, cattle, and bright riversides, forming a unity of composition.
The Angler
Several anglers were fishing, observing the river. The figure occupies a small scale, hidden in the shadow of the stone steps, and the tall trees occupy most of the space of the painting, the atmosphere is quiet and serene, and the human mind and nature are inseparable.
"Water Transport Ship"
Two farmers loaded the river water into large tanks on the carriage in buckets and transported them back to the farmhouse for daily use.
Pastoral Scenery
A mother and child rest in the fields.
The Mill at Sunset
Several fishermen gathered their nets and went home, and the windmills stood alone under the vast sunset and sky.
The Girl Who Raised the Goose
The unmarried girl is helping the family to do farm work, leading the flock of geese to the wild, the girl has a sad expression, her heart is lost, and she is forced to be trapped in the countryside in a good youth.
Grazing Cows
Several cows grazed, and a church stood in the distance.
"The Running Dog"
The dog has strong limbs, galloping above the flowers and grass, and its expression is cheerful, and its joy jumps on the paper.