Théodore ROUSSEAU (1812-1867) Moors and rocks... Lot 90

Théodore ROUSSEAU (1812-1867) Moors and rocks of Arbonne [in the forest of Fontainebleau]. Circa 1855 Oil on panel Signed TH. Rousseau lower left Stamped Rousseau sale lower right Wax stamp TH.R on the back of the panel, whose origin is unknown. All paintings bearing this stamp are authentic. Probably no. 91 from the posthumous sale of April 28, 1868. 57 x 81 cm With frame: 64 x 88 cm Oil on panel, signed lower left, bears the stamp of Rousseau sale's lower right and the THR wax stamp on the back, 22.4 x 31.8 in, with frame : 25 x 34.6 in The painting will be reproduced in the supplement to Théodore Rousseau's digital catalog raisonné currently in preparation. There are few paintings by Théodore Rousseau that combine painting and drawing as well as this one. The question is: what is the predominant technique? In reality, painting and drawing form a whole, one skilfully one skilfully complementing the other, the culmination of the constant modifications Rousseau felt he had to make to achieve perfection. Rousseau made this painting a luminous work of art. Alfred Sensier, Rousseau's biographer, wrote: "Without light, there is no creation. [Sensier, Souvenirs de Théodore Rousseau, 1872, p. 333]. Indeed, through all the variations in color - green, brown, white with pink mornings - complete harmony reigns in our painting, from which emanates the warmth of a summer's day in the forest of Fontainebleau. Everywhere, the dark brown strokes of the artist's brush underline the squat shape of the sandstone rocks, giving the picture a minerality it would otherwise lack. The millennia-old rocks thus rest on the sandy soil, giving the forest of Fontainebleau and its landscapes their unique and universally recognized character.these same strokes give their shape to the rocks and the mound that in Fontainebleau cannot be called a hill. The path, barely lit in the middle, twists and turns, winding its way to get lost in the distance. For connoisseurs of the forest of Fontainebleau, it couldn't be better represented and rendered. For in our painting, everything is a subtle confrontation but also an elegant complementarity between painting and drawing. Landes et roches d'Arbonne is similar to Bergères et rochers de Jean-du-Paris in the Glasgow Art Gallery and Museum, and to Vallon en forêt de Fontainebleau in Amsterdam's Van Gogh Museum, both executed in 1855. As here, Rousseau seeks an original and unusual path, which he, the Grand Refusé, made his life's relentless struggle to achieve. Here again, Rousseau proves that he was the great artist who revolutionized landscape painting in the 19th century. Michel Schulman May 2023 Books already published: - Frédéric Bazille, Catalogue raisonné, 1995 - Théodore Rousseau, Catalogue raisonné of the graphic works, 1997 - Théodore Rousseau, Catalogue raisonné of painted works, 1999 - Edgar Degas, Digital catalog raisonné, 2019 (degas-catalogue.com) - Frédéric Bazille, Digital catalog raisonné, 2022 (bazille-catalogue.com) In preparation: Théodore Rousseau, Digital catalog raisonné