The Estuary Farm
Jules Dupré·1831–34
Historical Context
Jules Dupré was a founding member of the Barbizon School, the group of French landscape painters who worked in and around the Forest of Fontainebleau from the 1830s onward. This early work from 1831-1834 shows a rural estuary farm, reflecting Dupré's commitment to painting the unidealized French countryside. Along with Théodore Rousseau, he helped establish landscape as a major genre in French painting.
Technical Analysis
The oil on canvas features Dupré's characteristic rich, dark palette with luminous sky effects. The thickly painted surface and textured brushwork create an atmospheric quality that anticipates later developments in French landscape painting.
Provenance
Goupil's, New York. Mrs. Ruth Whiting Chapin, New York by 1964 [according to phone conversation with her son, Neil Chapin, Sep. 24, 2002; in curatorial file]; sold Sotheby's, New York, 4 June 1975, no. 166. Sold Phillips, London, Nov. 27, 1990, no. 50 to James Mackinnon, London; sold to Art Institute, 1995.
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