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A River in a Meadow

ca. 1840
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 802

This composition is largely comprised of three horizontal bands: empty foreground, screen of trees, and sky. These broad registers are animated by nimble details, such as the complementary curves of the path and the river, or the straight line of figures that begins with the cow at left and leads the eye to the far bank. Light is deployed as a unifying element, a feature of seventeenth-century Dutch landscape painting that Rousseau transposed to a French setting.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: A River in a Meadow
  • Artist: Théodore Rousseau (French, Paris 1812–1867 Barbizon)
  • Date: ca. 1840
  • Medium: Oil on wood
  • Dimensions: 16 3/4 x 26 1/8 in. (42.5 x 66.4 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Bequest of Collis P. Huntington, 1900
  • Object Number: 25.110.52
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Autumn Landscape, Théodore Rousseau French, Brown ink and orange wash over graphite on heavy buff wove paper
Autumn Landscape
Théodore Rousseau
1855–65
Farmyard in Normandy, Théodore Rousseau French, Graphite and gray wash
Farmyard in Normandy
Théodore Rousseau
ca. 1831
Wheatfields, Théodore Rousseau French, Watercolor, over black chalk
Wheatfields
Théodore Rousseau
1865
An Alleyway between Houses, Théodore Rousseau French, Pen and ink over graphite, squared in graphite
An Alleyway between Houses
Théodore Rousseau
1858
Landscape (A Grove of Trees Standing Near a River), Théodore Rousseau French, Graphite on beige wove paper
Landscape (A Grove of Trees Standing Near a River)
Théodore Rousseau
1828–67

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