Meet Théodore Rousseau

Read About the Artist Théodore Rousseau

Théodore Rousseau (French, 1812–1867) loved nature since he was a little kid. He learned to paint from art teachers. But he wanted to paint nature just as it really looked, without adding made-up stories to his pictures. Many other artists in France did not like his ideas. He had a hard time selling his paintings and didn’t have much money. Still, he never gave up. He kept painting nature in his own way, and this helped start a whole new style of art called Impressionism.

There was a big, important art show in Paris, France called the Paris Salon. Rousseau showed his art there in the early 1830s, but in 1836 they told him to stop sending his artwork to be shown. Feeling sad, he left Paris and moved to a small village called Barbizon in the middle of a beautiful forest. Other artists came to join him. Together, this group of friends became known as the Barbizon School.

Rousseau used soft, quiet colors in his paintings. He also played with dark and light spots to make his pictures feel alive. He once said he made “portraits” of trees, almost like he was drawing their faces. Even though he didn’t love his art school training, he still followed one rule from it: he thought his paintings made outside were just practice sketches. Every winter, he would go back to his studio in Paris and turn those sketches into his final paintings.

Things started getting better for Rousseau after 1848. People all around the world began to love his work. He even won first place at the 1849 Paris Salon! Then in 1852, he received one of the most special honors in France: membership in the National Order of the Legion of Honour.

Questions

Write or discuss your responses.

• Rousseau said he “made portraits of the trees and listened to their voices.” What do you think he meant? What does that tell us about how he felt about nature?
• Even though Rousseau didn’t like art school very much, he still thought of his outdoor paintings as “practice sketches” to finish later in his studio. How do you think painting outside feels different from painting inside in a studio?

A group of artists in 19th‑century France who worked in and around the village of Barbizon near the Forest of Fontainebleau. These artists often drew and painted outdoors (en plein air), focusing on real trees, fields, and everyday rural life rather than imaginary or dramatic scenes. Their careful study of nature helped inspire later art movements like Impressionism.

In late 19th-century France, some artists painted pictures that look like they were quickly sketched, using lots of small dots and strokes of color to create scenes that capture feelings and moments, like the way sunlight looks on water or the colors of a garden.