The Marsh
1840
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
93 × 140 cm (36 1/2 × 55 in.); Framed: 122 × 169 cm (48 × 66 1/2 in.)
Classification
oil on canvas
Department
Painting and Sculpture of Europe
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
146272
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Small figures of washerwomen cleaning their clothing in a marsh and laying them out to dry animate this bucolic landscape, along with a few animals. As a member of the Barbizon School—an artistic group that often worked in Fontainebleau, a forest outside Paris—Constant Troyon was interested in scenes of everyday rural life that emphasized nature’s inherent drama. He was known for his depictions of sky, which capture atmosphere and light through a free, painterly technique that later inspired the...
About the Artist
Constant Troyon · 1810–1865
After training to become a porcelain painter at Sèvres, Troyon became interested in 17th century Dutch landscape painting, particularly the work of Jacob van Ruisdael, and subsequently became a member of the Barbizon School. After becoming Chevalier de le Légion d'honneur in 1849, his work shifted from landscapes to the painting of animals, often with laborers. His later landscapes of Normady were...