Barbizon School - A group of naturalist landscape painters who worked in the vicinity of Barbizon, a village on the outskirts of the Forest of Fontainebleu, southeast of Paris, in the 1840s and 1850s. Théodore Rousseau (French, 1812-1867) was the founder of the group. Other members of the group were Jean-Baptist Corot (French, 1796-1875), Narcisse Diaz de la Peña (French, 1807-1876), Constant Troyon (French, 1810-1865), Jules Dupré (French, 1811-1889), Jean-François Millet (French, 1814-1875), and Charles-François Daubigny (French, 1817-1878). Their approach constituted an art movement which eventually led to both Realism and Impressionism. Daubigny was the first of the plein air painters.

Examples:

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (French, 1796-1875), Fontainebleau: Oak Trees at Bas-Bréau, 1832 or 1833, oil on paper, laid down on wood panel, 15 5/8 x 19 1/2 inches (39.7 x 49.5 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY.

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Silenus, 1838, oil on canvas, 97 1/2 x 70 1/2 inches, Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Study for "The Destruction of Sodom", 1844-45, oil on canvas, 14 1/8 x 19 5/8 inches (35.9 x 49.8 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY. See study.

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Misty Morning, about 1860-1875, oil on canvas, 31 1/8 x 43 1/2 inches, Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

Narcisse Virgile Diaz de la Peña (French, 1807-1876), Autumn, Forest Interior, 19th century, oil on panel, 14 x 18 inches, Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

Constant Troyon (French, 1810-1865), Road in the Woods, oil on canvas, 22 7/8 x 19 inches (58.1 x 48.3 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY.

Jules Dupré (French, 1811-1889), Valley of the River Loire, oil on wood panel, 10 3/4 x 19 1/4 inches (27.3 x 48.9 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY.

Pierre-Étienne-Théodore Rousseau (French, 1812-1867), A Meadow Bordered by Trees, c. 1845, oil on wood panel, 16 3/8 x 24 3/8 inches (41.6 x 61.9 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY.

Pierre-Étienne-Théodore Rousseau, Autumn at St. Jean de Paris, Forest of Fontainebleau, 1846, oil on canvas, Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

Pierre-Étienne-Théodore Rousseau, A River Landscape, oil on wood panel, 16 3/8 x 24 7/8 inches (41.6 x 63.2 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY.

Pierre-Étienne-Théodore Rousseau, The Edge of the Woods at Monts-Girard, 1854, oil on wood panel, 31 1/2 x 48 inches (80 x 121.9 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY.

Pierre-Étienne-Théodore Rousseau, Sunset near Arbonne, c. 1860-65, oil on wood panel, 25 1/4 x 39 inches (64.1 x 99.1 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY.

Pierre-Étienne-Théodore Rousseau, The Forest in Winter at Sunset, 1845-67, oil on canvas, 64 x 102 3/8 inches (162.6 x 260 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY.

Jean-François Millet (French, 1814-1875), Seated Shepherdess, about 1852, oil on canvas, 27 1/4 x 24 1/4 inches, Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Millet is most associated with the Barbizon school of painters, though he is an important precursor to Realism.

Jean-François Millet, Woman with a Rake, probably 1856-57, oil on canvas, 15 5/8 x 13 1/2 inches (39.7 x 34.3 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY.

Jean-François Millet, Spring, 1868-1873, oil on canvas, 33 3/4 x 43 3/4 inches (86 x 111 cm), Musée d'Orsay, Paris.

Charles-François Daubigny (French, 1817-1878), The Crossroads of the Eagle's Nest, Fontainebleau Forest, 1843-44, 1843-1844, oil on canvas, 35 1/2 x 45 1/2 inches, Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

Charles-François Daubigny, Gobelle's Mill at Optevoz, c. 1852, oil on canvas, 22 3/4 x 36 1/2 inches (57.8 x 92.7 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY.

Charles-François Daubigny, A River Landscape with Storks, 1864, oil on wood panel, 9 1/2 x 17 5/8 inches (24.1 x 44.8 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY.