Forest of Fontainebleau
Forest of Fontainebleau
Forest of Fontainebleau
Forest of Fontainebleau

Currently not on view

Forest of Fontainebleau,

ca. 1870

William Drooke Harrison, French, active 1860–1893
x1986-26
After the French Revolution, the forest of Fontainebleau, a former royal hunting ground, became a popular destination for artists. Painters were attracted by the forest's seasonal beauty and varied topography as well as by its proximity to Paris. British photographer William Harrison lived with his family in nearby Barbizon and found a primary market for his landscape photographs among painters for use as aidesmémoire. Nearly hidden at the base of this stately oak is the figure of a man, a feature commonly included in paintings of Fontainebleau to evoke the solitude of the woods and, in photographs, to convey a sense of scale.

Information

Title
Forest of Fontainebleau
Dates

ca. 1870

Maker
William Drooke Harrison
Medium
Albumen print
Dimensions
19.4 x 19.7 cm. (7 5/8 x 7 3/4 in.) mount: 44.3 × 31.2 cm (17 7/16 × 12 5/16 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase, gift of William J. Salman, Class of 1955
Object Number
x1986-26
Place Depicted

Europe, France, Fontainebleau, Fontainebleau Forest

Inscription
In graphite, lower left corner of paper: No 34 Chiné Ziem-Revue Blanche–
Culture
French
Type
albumen prints, black-and-white photographs, photographs
Techniques
mounting, albumen process
Subject
figures (representations), vegetation, trees, landscapes (representations), forest, Nature, men

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