Welcome to the website Collection Art De France . com, a private collection dedicated to Art in France. We present 100 years of paintings in France, during the period 1860 - 1960. This first part is a group of approximately 150 paintings of landscapes and naturalism .
Barbizon : The name brings to mind idyllic countryside, the pleasures of living close to nature and the beauty of the unparalleled forest of Fontainebleau - the country seat and hunting preserve of the kings of France. Now an internationally-renowned place of residence and tourism, the village of yesteryear, so beloved by artists, is still in evidence. At the time of the 19th-century landscape artists, Barbizon was a humble hamlet, but its subsequent artistic renown has spread its fame worldwide. In historical terms, it relates to the 1830 generation of artists who faded from the scene around 1875, opening the way for the Impressionists. Most of these painters were landscape and wildlife artists. In 1863, the masters of the Barbizon School were joined by a younger generation of artists such as Bazille, Monet, Renoir and Sisley. The term "impressionism" was created to describe the work of a select group of Parisian painters in the late 19th century. With their thin brush strokes and explosion of color and lighting on mundane subjects, impressionists painters confounded critics, defied conventions, and sparked scandal. A century and a half later, they are among the most revered and influentional artists of all time. Academic paintings tended to glorify human actions by dramatizing figures in historical, religions or mythical theme. Impressionist’s landscapes almost always have a human presence. "Paysage animé" in French. Even if people are absent, there frequently is something – a boat, or even a haystack – to give a sign of human activity. Riverside paths, rural parks and woodlands, forests ,were the most familiar examples of nature for many of the Impressionists. It was a distinct departure from the realist style where brush strokes are less prominent in favor of near-photographic quality in the paintings. And while most realistic styles depicted historical and nobler subjects where the style tended to be more suitable, impressionists use their human faculties of perception to depict more mundane contemporary subjects that strike them the first time. The Impressionists loved painting out of doors. The ever-changing face of nature lent itself perfectly to their interests in capturing fleeting moments of light and color. They used broken brush work and prismatic to convey nature's mutability.
We present the evolution of landscapes, painters from Barbizon period until contemporary times of 1960's , sometimes great names, sometimes painters less renowned, showing that they all deserve to be admired. This collection is a memorial to painters, the known and unknown, whom have produced inspirations from the past...