La Mare près de la route, ferme dans le Berry

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Théodore Rousseau
La Mare près de la route, ferme dans le Berry
entre 1845 et 1848
huile sur bois
H. 34,5 ; L. 53,5 cm.
Legs Alfred Chauchard, 1910
© Musée d’Orsay, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Patrice Schmidt
Théodore Rousseau
La Mare près de la route, ferme dans le Berry
entre 1845 et 1848
huile sur bois
H. 34,5 ; L. 53,5 cm.
Legs Alfred Chauchard, 1910
© RMN-Grand Palais (Musée d’Orsay) / Hervé Lewandowski
Théodore Rousseau (1812 - 1867)

Rousseau had been a friend of Maurice Sand, son of the author George Sand, since 1839 when they met at the studio of the Swiss painter Menn. Following Maurice's advice, he went to stay in the Indre region in 1842. In 1847, Rousseau again stayed in this part of the Berry, invited to Nohant by George Sand herself. She dreamed of marrying the painter to Augustine Brault, her "adopted daughter". The plan failed, but Rousseau, always in search of motifs to paint, accumulated many sketches and drafts between 1842 and 1847, which he used for several paintings, one of which was The pond near the road, a farm in the Berry.
This painting was directly inspired by 17th century Dutch landscape painting, very fashionable in France in the 19th century. Rousseau and the majority of the artists of his generation had learned about detail and sensitivity by studying these works. But Rousseau took this sense of observation and desire for depth even further. In this way, he contributed to creating "a new Dutch art". He produced a large number of these small, bucolic landscapes that were highly valued by art lovers. Later, at Fontainebleau, he painted the Mare aux Fées again on several occasions in much more dramatic colours.

Artwork not currently exhibited in the museum
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