In the Forest of Fontainbleau
c. 1850
Charcoal, with stumping and black pastel, heightened with touches of white chalk, on dark tan wove paper, laid down on tan wood pulp board
28.5 × 42.4 cm (11.2 × 16.7 in)
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● On view now — Gallery 223
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago · verified July 2026
Discussion
FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG
The forest at Fontainebleau was a favorite subject of Barbizon artists, who were by its beauty and its proximity to Paris. Rousseau, a premier Barbizon painter, was attacked by critics in the 1830s and 1840s for his humble farm and forest scenes, which they considered to be "vulgar." The two figures in this landscape may be Rousseau himself and the adopted daughter of George Sand; the two were engaged in 1845.
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