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The Pond (La Mare)

1855
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 957
Painted during the artist’s most productive period, this landscape demonstrates Rousseau’s ability to paint naturalistic detail and vast receding space on a small scale. Rousseau renders a distant view of the wooded landscape as he sets the cattle, human figure, and trees on the far side of the pond. The luminous horizon peeks through the trees, giving light to details in the foreground such as patterns in the grass and reflections in the water.

Painted in a realistic rather than idealistic manner, this landscape’s subtle movement and gentle beauty are characteristic of Rousseau’s oeuvre. He later became associated with the Barbizon School, a group of artists who painted in and around the Forest of Fountainbleau.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Pond (La Mare)
  • Artist: Théodore Rousseau (French, Paris 1812–1867 Barbizon)
  • Date: 1855
  • Medium: Oil on wood
  • Dimensions: 13 1/2 × 20 3/8 in. (34.3 × 51.8 cm)
    Framed: 23 1/2 × 29 3/4 in. (59.7 × 75.6 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
  • Object Number: 1975.1.205
  • Curatorial Department: The Robert Lehman Collection

More Artwork

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The Forest in Winter at Sunset, Théodore Rousseau French, Oil on canvas
The Forest in Winter at Sunset
Théodore Rousseau
ca. 1846–67
Ceramic Horn, Glazed pottery, French
Ceramic Horn
French
late 18th or early 19th century
An Ear of Mud, An Ear of Paste, Abdel Hadi El-Gazzar Egyptian, Oil on paperboard
An Ear of Mud, An Ear of Paste
Abdel Hadi El-Gazzar
1951
Secretary, Martin Carlin and French, Oak veneered with tulipwood, amaranth, holly, ebonized holly, and other marquetry wood; brass; green-colored metal; gilt-bronze mounts; marble top. Soft paste porcelain plaques from the Sèvres Manufactory.
Secretary
Attributed to Martin Carlin
Sèvres Manufactory
various French
ca. 1781–85
A Meadow Bordered by Trees, Théodore Rousseau French, Oil on wood
A Meadow Bordered by Trees
Théodore Rousseau
ca. 1845–60

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