Théodore Rousseau is a French painter, leader of the Barbizon school, known for his landscapes and tree portraits that mark a break with the academicism of his time and pave the way for Impressionism. In a century marked by the Industrial Revolution, he placed the environment at the heart of his work and became one of the first defenders of the forest.

‍

Rousseau showed a talent for drawing and painting very early on. He studied briefly at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris but preferred to train independently.

‍

It was during a tour of France that began in 1830 that Rousseau, who already considered his landscapes as portraits, discovered the Fontainebleau forest. He settled in Barbizon, a small village near the forest, where he became friends with artists who shared his aspirations, such as Jean-François Millet, Narcisse Diaz de la Peña and Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot. Together, they formed the Barbizon School, promoting outdoor painting and direct observation of nature.

‍

Rousseau is known for his ability to capture the beauty and majesty of nature. In particular, he makes trees the heroes of his works. He sets up his easel outside and paints the vegetation as closely as possible, depicting knots, bark and tree souls, like portraits. Its skilful use of light and shade reflects the changes in the atmosphere over the hours and seasons.

‍

His love of nature soon turned into a fight: Rousseau revolted against the installation of railways in the heart of the Fontainebleau forest. Through his letters, in 1853 he created the first nature reserve in the world, under the name of “artistic reserve”, formalized in 1861. In the name of art, Rousseau contributes to the awakening of ecological awareness.

‍

His works are preserved in many prestigious museums, such as in Paris at the Louvre Museum, the Orangerie Museum and the Orsay Museum in Paris or in New York at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 2024, a retrospective was dedicated to him at the Petit Palais in Paris.

‍

‍