Development from the Barbizon School to the Impressionist Movement

The Barbizon school, so called because its painters mainly resided in the village of Barbizon, led the way towards the Impressionist movement in France. Camile Corot, Theodore Rousseau, Jean-Francois Millet and others made artworks that combined landscape with historical events. It was called the paysage historique, a new genre that the academy recognized as a high level of art in the early 1900s. It elevated the status of landscape paintings, so that paintings created from the Barbizon school painters would be accepted by the Saloon. The artists would travel to the Forest of Fontainebleau and the pains of the Barbizon to create en plein air (in open air) sketches. Landscape paintings were becoming more popular as John Arrowsmith (an English man) brought over many landscapes done by John Constable. Many French galleries bought these in the 1830s, which majorly popularized landscape paintings in Europe. Corot later in the 1850s and 1860s, many decades after showing his work in the Saloon, became the most recognized landscape painter in France. 

One major shift in this period of France was the rise of Romanticism, which emphasized the sublime and emotional depictions in art. In Corot's later works, he would paint memories of places he visited. He called these Souvenir paintings (souvenir means "remembrance"). These paintings created an impression of his time spent there, creating a sense of the passing of time. This idea of an idea of a place, the emotions one feels at a certain location is highly valued in the art of the Impressionists. Boudin, a forerunner and teacher of well-known Impressionist artists like Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, started doing paintings en plein air. He would start and finish them in the same session outside, typically doing paintings of people vacationing at the beach. He focused more on elements like light, texture and atmosphere rather than the art styles of classical artists.

John Constable, Hampstead Heath, with Bathing Pond, Branch Hill, 1821–1822, Oil on canvas, 9 5/8×15 3/8 in. (24.4×39.1 cm), Yale Center for British Art, New Haven.

He greatly inspired the Romantic movement in terms of landscape paintings in Italy and France. In the 1820s, John Arrowhead brough over works by Constable that many galleries in Paris bough after 1830. This work looks similar to works of early Impressionists because of the visible brushstrokes, which are often found in Impressionist paintings. The small scale points to its en plein air creation, another big influence. This landscape is not idealized or perfect but an idea of what the artist actually saw.

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Hagar in the Wilderness, 1835, Oil on canvas, 71×106 1/2 in., The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Corot's Hagar in the Wilderness depicts the Biblical narrative of Hagar and Ishmael in the wilderness before the angel of God comes to save them. The landscape takes over most of the large painting, which becomes a cohesive scenery that creates a foreboding tone to the whole scene. The contrast between the harsh rocks and trees, and also the yellow of the dry desert gives the viewer a visceral experience of the wilderness. Through Corot's studies of the trees of Fontainebleau, he can create believable scenery. Even the complimentary colors he uses between the sky and land creates a visual narrative that the viewer can appreciate for its romantic feel. The desolation of Hagar but a new dawn and the hope of safety in the angel.

Théodore Rousseau, The Pond (also titled The Pond (La Mare)), 1855, Oil on wood, 13 1/2×20 3/8 in. (34.3×51.8 cm), The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Rousseau trained under Remond, who was a landscape painter in the historical tradition. He was heavily influenced by Constable's work, although his work was constantly rejected from the Saloon for years until he boycotted it. Baudelaire, a critique of historical landscape, highly praises Rousseau for implanting a Romanticist-like feel to the work. He captures the dark and moody feel of the pond and the clouds above, which completely engulf the figures shown in the middle.

Théodore Rousseau, The Pond (also titled The Pond (La Mare)), 1855, Oil on wood, 13 1/2×20 3/8 in. (34.3×51.8 cm), The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Corot painted this in memory of the park at Mortefontaine. His collection of Souvenir paintings were remembrances/memories of places rather than the actual place. They represented a poetic interpretation of the experience of being there. Many of his works include a lake, solitude and a sense of time passing. He wanted to create a lasting impression of a place that would transcend the passing of time, but convey a memory that one could latch onto. It is heavily influenced by Romanticism, creating a foreboding memory of a place that he has not visited in 30 years.

Jean-François Millet, Autumn Landscape with a Flock of Turkeys, 1872–73, Oil on canvas, 31 7/8×39 in. (81×99.1 cm), The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Millet, a member of the Barbizon school, painted this scene depicting real life of the commoner. Millet focuses on depictions of rural life and labor, which has a dense and heavy earthy quality to it. The scene is based off of a real landscape, with the figure posing a haunting reality of the seasons and the change in the soil. It has a variety of brush strokes and textures, emphasizing the effort of cultivating the land.

Eugène Boudin, On the Beach, Sunset, 1865, Oil on canvas, 12(⅛) x 17(⅛)in. (30.8 x 43.5cm), The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Boudin, a forerunner of Impressionism, focused heavily on vacationers at the beaches of the Normandy coast. He was good with atmospheric effects, able to quickly represent the sky and light. The forms are not given much detail (no faces) but the details are in the feel of the scenes as a whole. The looser brush work emphasizes the quickness of the moment, a sunset is fleeting in reality. Monet was heavily influenced by Boudin's work, especially his use of light and atmosphere.

Claude Monet, La Grenouillère, 1869, Oil on canvas, 29 3/8×39 1/4 in. (74.6×99.7 cm), The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Claude Monet is probably the most famous Impressionist artist of France. His works are extremely well known and distinguished. He captures the reflections of light in the water, as well as the impressions of people and trees in the background. He paints en plein air, often depicting people enjoying the new French middle class life. His works are a visual sensation, representing fleeting moments with beautiful, fast brush strokes.

References

Amory, D. (2007). The Barbizon school: French painters of nature. In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved from http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/bfpn/hd_bfpn.htm

Greenberg, S. (2004). Reforming paysage historique: Corot and the generation of 1830. Art History, 27(3), 412–430.

Haas, K. (2002). Impressions of light: The French landscape from Corot to Monet. Art and Architecture, 5(1), 1–25.

Samu, M. (2004). Impressionism: Art and modernity. In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved from http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/imml/hd_imml.htm

The Birth of Modern Leisure in Art

    Before the 19th century rise of impressionism and the plein-air technique (painting outdoors), the subject matter that dominated European paintings–especially those from the French Academy–was formal and historical. Artists painted in a studio and focused mostly on painting historical events, biblical narratives, mythology, and portraits of royal or wealthy patrons. There was some focus on everyday life at the time; however, these paintings were centered on peasants or domestic scenes and were ranked low in the hierarchy of painting genres. Also low in the hierarchy were landscape paintings, which, to gain significance, had to feature mythological figures or historical subjects on the landscape. These paintings were often created from imagination or sketches and not painted outdoors. Artists such as Eugène Boudin and Johan Barthold Jongkind were of the first to paint directly outdoors. Their works were a precursor to the Impressionist movement, as many artists who are known for Impressionism today were inspired by their pieces and their advice. Claude Monet was one who was mentored by both Boudin and Jongkind and is known to be one of the earliest true Impressionist painters along with Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro, Edgar Degas, Berthe Morisot, Alfred Sisley, Paul Cézanne, and Armand Guillaumin. These particular students decided to team with artists like Boudin and break away from the French Academy’s standards for good painting. Because the Impressionist movement featured many landscapes and outdoor everyday scenes, the subject matter mostly depicted the bourgeoisie–a wealthy social class that had emerged–enjoying leisure time outside. These new patrons desired to see themselves and their lifestyles of vacations, pleasure, and the outdoors reflected in art. Leisure grew in popularity and began to embody the characteristics of modern life as it represented cosmopolitan free time and mobility. Each artist during this time had their own unique methods for representing this idea of leisure.

On the Beach, Dieppe

Eugène Boudin, 1864, Oil on wood painting, 12 1/2 x 11 1/2 in.

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, 2003.20.1

Boudin enjoyed capturing beach scenes along the Normandy coast–an area that grew in popularity for Impressionist painters over time. The Bourgeoisie peppered the coast, strolling down the long stretches of sand or sitting and chatting, their dresses and coattails blowing around in the ocean breeze. Boudin claimed he was less interested in the “little dolls” in his paintings (how he referred to the figures) and more interested in representing them as a group bathed in an atmosphere of nature and light. Boudin’s subject matter mainly consisted of Bourgeois families, women in fashionable dresses, and people relaxing and gazing at the horizon. His work elevated ordinary leisurely activities into legitimate fine art subject matter that was respectable and commercially successful. After Boudin’s work, many artists became fascinated in this region of France, and they would follow tourist routes to find scenes to paint, meaning that the viewers would have recognized the scenes. Many wealthy patrons enjoyed seeing their everyday activities depicted in a painting. Boudin also popularized the technique of painting en plein air (outdoors), which made it easier to find candid subjects and to capture real moments of leisure. Because of his work, leisure became central to the Impressionist aesthetic.

Regatta at Sainte-Adresse

Claude Monet, 1867, Oil on canvas painting, 29 5/8 x 40 in.

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, 51.30.4

Monet, inspired by Boudin’s plein air technique, began painting outdoors as well and capturing the Bourgeoisie during their leisurely activities. However, Monet was not trying to communicate his approval of the social practices of the upper classes but rather experimenting with this new subject matter. The finished products of Monet’s paintings seemed to transcend the canvas, which is what made him one of the most prominent Impressionist painters of all time. In this particular painting, men and women watch the regatta from the shore, and the viewers see a traditional seacoast scene that has been infiltrated by modern life. The only representation of local life is the small fishing boat pulled onto shore surrounded by fishermen, which implies that only those who are wealthy can relax; the fishermen must keep working. The parasol held by the woman in the bottom left reveals the woman’s social status as the device was known to protect middle to upper class women from the effects of natural sunlight. This regatta was likely put on by a local yacht club as a commodity for those who could afford free time. Nearer to the beginning of his career, Monet enjoyed painting tourists; however, he later began painting lonely scenes free of tourists as he realized that modern culture was turning local villages into resorts.

Garden at Sainte-Adresse

Claude Monet, 1869, Oil on canvas painting, 38 5/8 x 51 1/8 in.

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, 67.241

Monet spent a summer with family in Sainte-Adresse along the Normandy coast, a trip funded by his father. He has a collection of several paintings derived from this trip. Seaside tourism was growing in popularity in Normandy. Boudin had taught Monet that everything in the sky was beautiful, so Monet took advantage of sky and ocean scenes to experiment with light, shadows, moving water, and atmospheric depth. His paintings often placed the viewer just outside the leisure activity, as with this painting, the viewer is placed behind the flower-covered stone wall. This placement suggests that he was depicting leisure as something to be observed but not participated in which enforces the idea that leisure is a performance or display of social status. It could also allude to Monet’s own financial insecurity at the time, and the way he felt like an outsider who could only observe upper class activities. He skillfully depicts the sunlight and weather–which likely would have changed during the process of painting–to capture a single moment in time. This piece was painted in a similar spot as his Regatta at Sainte-Adresse; with the two paintings side by side, he shows the differences between private and public leisure as these figures enjoy an ocean view from a more secluded area lifted above the beaches.

The Monet Family in Their Garden at Argenteuil

Edouard Manet, 1874, Oil on canvas painting, 24 x 39 1/4 in.

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, 1976.201.14

Manet was not explicitly part of the Impressionist movement; however, this portrayal of Monet’s family is his experimentation with Impressionism as a technique. With this painting, Manet successfully intertwines Impressionist values with the depiction of a bourgeoisie family, emphasizing the values of leisure, work, child-rearing, and outdoor living all at once. It is a snapshot of the modern bourgeois ideal while also representing the artistic community that made the Impressionist movement possible. Manet was used to working in a studio, but with this piece, he experiments with the idea of painting en plein air as he enjoyed a beautiful day outside with the Monet family. Manet enjoyed specifically depicting figures in a way that communicated to the viewer the effects of social conventions and, perhaps, boredom on vacationers and high class tourists. He combined the skills he had for spotting these phenomena with Monet’s eye for nature depictions. Some scholars describe this summer in Argenteuil as a crossroads in history where two distinct artists begin combining their techniques and learning from one another. Manet’s painting shows his support for the development of vacation and leisure painting as legitimate and iconic. Depictions of leisure in art became snapshots of shifting cultural values and lifestyles.

The Fishermen (Fantastic Scene)

Paul Cézanne, 1875, Oil on canvas painting, 21 3/4 x 32 1/4 in.

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, 2001.473

With this painting, Cézanne refers back to paintings by Manet and Monet from the 1860s as he depicts outdoor leisure time for elegantly-attired men, women, and children on a beautiful afternoon by the water. He represents both the upper and lower classes in the same scene, which emphasizes that the working class must spend their time working while the upper class enjoys free time on the grass in conversation with one another. It is thought that the man with his back turned in the lower left corner of the painting may be Cézanne himself enjoying a stroll in the scene. His subject matter mostly includes everyday activities of working-class men and communal activities like fishing and bathing. Encouraged by the Impressionist painter Camille Pissarro, Cézanne began painting en plain air as well. Cézanne was less entranced by the upper-class leisure life and more interested in mastering the depiction of landscapes; however, his paintings often included figures taking joy in the simplicities of nature. Leisure scenes gave him an excuse to put group people together in his paintings to represent social phenomena. He bridges Impressionism and modern art by transforming simple leisure into something profound that makes the viewer question the way he lives life.

Figures on the Beach

Auguste Renoir, 1890, Oil on canvas painting, 20 3/4 × 25 1/4 in.

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, 1975.1.198

Many of Renoir’s paintings feature activities of modern leisure. This particular painting presents two women enjoying time on the beach together, carefree and not in the presence of any men, along with a child playing in the water. Their ability to visit the beach during their free time and rest clearly represents modern, middle to upper class life, but Renoir turns the experience into a more familial, intimate, and warm moment. He employs Impressionist techniques like visible brushstrokes and vibrant hues of color. He elevates leisure into an activity that fosters joy and deepens relationships between people. The child splashing in the ocean suggests that leisure is play for both children and adults. This particular depiction of free time activities emphasizes the simple pleasures of being together without the pressures of the public eye. Renoir shows the viewer that modern life does not always imply industrialization and public performance. Humans still enjoy the simple and the ordinary despite shifts in cultural values, norms, and lifestyle. Renoir skillfully captures the fleeting moments of spending time with loved ones through the leisure activities of modern culture. He uses the growing popularity of representing modern culture in art to communicate this theme throughout many of his pieces.

Bodies: 19th Century Perceptions of Native Americans in Painting and Sculpture

    With the west perceived as a vast, essentially unoccupied frontier, and a path to fulfillment of the American Dream, settlers pushed westward throughout the course of the 19th century. The draw of this land would only increase as gold was discovered in California in 1849 and as industry and technology (such as the railroad) made American expansion desirable and available to more. This drive forcefully removed Native Americans from their lands, eliminating or permanently altering traditional ways of life for thousands of aboriginal people.

    Contemporarily, there would have been two major justifications given for westward expansion and native displacement. 

1. Manifest destiny: the idea that God had spiritually ordained white men to control the continent, convert the Indians to Christianity, or both. 

2. Racial superiority: the idea that the white race is above others. This includes cultural and religious superiority. However, it was believed at the time that these character traits stem from a racial, biological propensity towards intellect and morality.  

    These ideas are not mutually exclusive in any means. In many cases, they are entwined, with either mode of thought justifying the other. They also share the same core thesis: the white colonization of native land is inevitable.

    This exhibit focuses on the ways artists in the 19th visually depicted these ideas, especially through native and female bodies. Specifically, how painting and sculpture were used to justify Westward expansion and ethnic genocide. Along with how these artists' belief in the inevitability of white colonization is reflected in their depictions of natives.

Erastus Dow Palmer
The White Captive
1858–59
Marble, 65 x 20 1/4 x 17 in.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, United States

Erastus Dow Palmer, born in 1817, was an American sculptor born in New York. He remained in the state, working out of Albany. His sculpture The White Captive depicts a Caucasian woman who had been abducted by Native Americans. From the nightgown hanging by her side, the viewer can tell she was taken in her sleep. To the contemporary audience, the race of The White Captive was distinctly American, visually distinct not only from depictions of Native Americans, but also from idealized Greek figures, which were popular figures in neoclassical sculpture. This piece specifically alludes to the contemporary fear of native violence and visually depicts Americans as morally pure compared to the imagined native savage.

John Mix Stanley
Osage Scalp Dance
1845
Oil on canvas 40 3⁄4 x 60 1⁄2 in.
Smithsonian American Art Museum, New York, United States

John Mix Stanley was an American artist and explorer. The scene in Osage Scalp Dance is fictional, playing off a current American story of natives kidnapping whites to kill, rape, or enslave them. However, Stanley claimed to have based his composition on his experiences traveling west. Stanley used value and space to emphasize his central figure, a white woman with her child. Viewers are clearly meant to sympathize with this figure, and visually it shows the cruelty of natives juxtaposed against the moral purity of the white women and child. In addition, a native figure defending the women wears a presidential peace medal. This shows how natives can gain moral purity through association with America and her institutions.

Erastus Dow Palmer 

Indian Girl, or The Dawn of Christianity

1855–56

Marble 60 x 19 3/4 x 22 1/4 in

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, United States

Erastus Dow Palmer’s sculpture Indian Girl, or The Dawn of Christianity, shows a young native girl holding a crucifix in front of her and a handful of feathers down to her side. She holds the cross in front of her, looking down on it. Palmer uses form and implied line to emphasize this object, suggesting its importance and diminishing the importance of the feathers, which help show the women as native. This sculpture shows the role of religious assimilation in the context of native colonization. It also alludes to the universal spiritual beauty and truth of Christianity and shows visually its prescience over native identity.

John Gadsby Chapman 

Baptism of Pocahontas

Oil on Canvas 12' x 18'

1840

Capitol Rotunda, Washington DC, United states

Born in the United States in 1813, John Gadsby Chapman began studying painting in the United States before moving to Italy to study with masters and then eventually moving back to New York. Commissioned by the U.S. government, this massive painting depicts Pocahontas and a minister baptizing her as its central figures. Among many other figures, her future husband, John Rolfe, stands behind her. Her brother looks the other way during the ceremony, and her sister sits on the floor with an infant. This painting shows the role of Christianity in native assimilation into the United States. While aware of the cultural conflict, Chapman frames Pocahontas’s bowing to America and her religion as the morally correct decision.

Albert Bierstadt 

The Landing of Columbus 

1893 

Oil on canvas 72 x 121 in.

Permanent Collection of The city of Plainfield, New Jersey, United states

Painted by the acclaimed landscape artist Albert Bierstadt late in his career, The Landing of Columbus mythologizes the initial moments of contact between Columbus and the native population. Bierstadt uses value to put emphasis on Columbus and his group of settlers as Columbus raises his hands towards the sky in celebration. Real and implied lines from the natives’ gaze, along with their pointed bodies, additionally focus the viewer on the settlers. Being painted in the late 19th century, after America had widely established dominance across the continent, this painting is in response to, in addition to being a justification of, the colonial project. This piece suggests that, from the first moment of contact, white, and in this case European, culture is inherently superior. This is so obvious that natives, who do not know and have not interacted with Columbus, are bowing down to him.

Hiram Powers 

California

1858 

marble, 71 x 18 1/4 x 24 3/4 in.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, United States

Hiram Powers, born in the United States in 1805, would move to and build his international reputation as a bust sculptor in Florence, Italy. California is an ideal, allegorical work depicting the process of mining, relating to both the potential riches and dangers of gold. While the figure was initially intended to be more explicitly native, Power's decision to portray her as entirely nude removed many racial signifiers. Through an understanding of phrenology (the practice of mapping a person's character to the shape of their face and head), Powers still intended this figure to be identified as native. By choosing to depict her race this way, Powers alludes to the idea that differences between natives and whites are due to distinct, physiological differences. By depicting her with a divining rod, Powers makes the native body a physical tool for finding gold, in addition to a symbolic tool to show his allegory.

Hiram Powers 

The Last of the Tribes 

1876-1877

marble 66 1⁄8 x 22 3⁄4 x 32 in

Smithsonian American Art Museum Washington DC, United States

Sculpted significantly after California, The Last of the Tribes builds upon themes found in Powers’ previous work. From a phrenological lens, her more rapidly receding forehead shows her as possessing lessened mental fortitude, an attribute understood to be associated with her race. She runs from civilization, looking back almost confused and scared, almost like an animal. By raising this fictitious native figure in marble sculpture, he gives her identity significance. Powers suggests that the perceived elimination of natives is significant, and should even inspire melancholy. However, Powers makes it clear that, due to racial inferiority, it is inevitable that they vanish in lieu of white settlers. It is inevitable that their numbers reduce until there is, eventually, a last of the tribes.

References: Baigell, Matthew. “Territory, Race, Religion: Images of Manifest Destiny.” Smithsonian Studies in American Art 4, no. 3/4 (1990): 3–21. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3109013. Colbert, C. (1986). “Each Little Hillock hath a Tongue” - Phrenology and the Art of Hiram Powers. The Art Bulletin, 68(2), 281. https://doi.org/10.2307/3050938 Colbert, C. (2000). Spiritual currents and manifest destiny in the art of Hiram powers. The Art Bulletin, 82(3), 529. https://doi.org/10.2307/3051400

Facing the Sublime

During the Romantic period, German painters developed a type of landscape known in German as a stimmungslandschaft, which roughly translates to “emotional landscape.”  Rather than painting a topographically accurate depiction of the details of the landscape before them, these painters emphasize the mood that the landscape evokes and seek to portray the aesthetic of the sublime. The city of Dresden served as a major center for German Romantic landscape painting with Caspar David Friedrich at its core, famous for his spiritual and allegorical imagery. Among his close associates was the Norwegian painter Johan Christian Dahl, who sought to depict the interplay between the figures and their environment - the overall mood or atmosphere they create. Stimmungslandschaft is the key element connecting Dahl to Friedrich and the broader circle of Romantic landscape painters centered around Dresden who all sought to depict landscapes full of romantic feeling. Closely related to this element is the compositional device known as Rückenfigur, in which a figure is seen from behind, contemplating the natural scenery. The viewer is invited to join the painted figure in experiencing the sublime and recognizing the transcendence of nature. This technique evokes in the viewer an emotional and spiritual connection to the landscape. 

Two Men Contemplating the Moon, Caspar David Friedrich, ca.1825-30, Oil on canvas, 2000.51

Friedrich was known for his allegorical landscapes in which contemplative figures are featured from behind. The painting is meant to evoke an emotional response to nature, and the viewers are invited to join the figures' experience of the sublime. German Romantic painters like Friedrich were also deeply fascinated by the moon, which created a serene atmosphere conducive to deep thoughtfulness. Friedrich gave this painting to his friend and contemporary, Johan Christian Dahl, who responded by creating a painting in homage to Friedrich’s work.

Two Men Before a Waterfall at Sunset, Johan Christian Dahl, 1823, Oil on canvas, 2019.167.3

Dahl invites the viewer to appraise the sunset, the waterfall, and other inanimate parts of nature in the painting rather than focusing on the two human beings in the left corner. This painting was created in homage to his friend and contemporary, Casper David Friedrich, who gifted him with a similar painting featuring contemplative figures facing the scenery rather than looking out at the viewer. Dahl hoped to emphasize the transcendent beauty in nature has the power to pull us out of ourselves and cause us to realize that the world is a great and mysterious place.

Wanderer in the Storm, Julius vol Leypold, 1835, Oil on canvas, 2008.7

If the moon symbolized pious contemplation for German Romantic painters, a wanderer in an untamed land signified restless yearning. The solitary traveler looks small and insignificant in comparison to the barren and unkempt landscape. This painting emphasized nature’s impermanence and human solitude, themes that can be seen in many landscape paintings during this time period in Dresden. Leypold’s efforts to evoke an emotional response in his viewers using an emotive landscape connects his work to those of his contemporaries who sought to create emotional landscapes.

Carl Gustav Carus, Gothic Windows in the Ruins of the Monastery at Oybin, ca. 1828, Oil on canvas, 2007.192

Like his Romantic contemporaries, Carus emphasized the mood that the landscape evokes for the viewers. Unlike the other paintings we have looked at so far in this collection, nature does not dominate the area of this canvas. Instead, we look through two windows to a pale blue sky and a distant hill. This deserted church had become a motif for German Romantic artists. Although it is no longer inhabited, Carus depicts young trees to inspire hope in the viewer that new life can be created even among ruins.

Carl Gustav Carus, Schloss Milkel in Moonlight, 1833-35, Oil on canvas, 2018.749

This painting by Carus is meant to evoke in the viewers a sense of deep calm. Like in Friedrich’s work above, the moon in this painting creates a serene atmosphere ideal for contemplation. Carus was interested in the way that truth and meaning reveal themselves both within the rational mind and in the natural world. The two lit windows signify a wakeful human presence within the house while the moon illuminates the ever-present nature surrounding the house. 

Martinus Rørbye, View from the Citadel Ramparts in Copenhagen by Moonlight, 1839, Oil on canvas, 2007.164.7

The darker values in this painting create a quiet sense of expectation, as do the figures of the men facing out towards the sea. Rørbye employed the technique of Rückenfigur to create the sense of longing that is so prevalent in works of Romantic painters. Moonlight provides the only light in this painting, and though the moon itself is hidden, the light reflects up from the water. Although Rørbye is a Danish painter, he is greatly influenced by German painters of the time period including Dahl and Friedrich.