In the Forest of Fontainebleau
Narcisse Virgile Diaz de la Peña (1807 - 1876), c. 1865-1870
oil on paper on panel, 42.8 cm x 56 cm
Credits: The Mesdag Collection, The Hague
Boulders like these are typical of the Forest of Fontainebleau. There, Diaz de la Peña and his painter friends discovered unspoilt nature. Not many details are visible. The artist used rough brushwork to paint the dark forest floor. Against that background, the white birches and rocks stand out starkly.
We believe he painted this in a spot about an hour's walk from Barbizon: the Gorges d’Apremont.
- Object number
- hwm0116
- Dimensions
- 42.8 cm x 56 cm, 73.6 cm x 87 cm, 9 cm
- Provenance
- Acquired by Hendrik Willem Mesdag, The Hague, before September 1881 or before May 1882; Collection Museum Mesdag donated by Hendrik Willem Mesdag and Sientje Mesdag-van Houten to the State of the Netherlands, 14 May 1903; Rijksmuseum H.W. Mesdag, The Hague, from 1 August 1903; in trust of the Mauritshuis, The Hague, between 1934 and 1990; in trust of the Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh, Amsterdam, from 1 April 1990; Museum Mesdag, in trust of the Van Gogh Museum Foundation, Amsterdam, from 1 July 1994, under the name of De Mesdag Collectie from 2011.
- artist
- Narcisse Virgile Diaz de la Peña
- Credits
- The Mesdag Collection, The Hague
Paris, Petit Palais, Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris, Les Hollandais à Paris. 1789-1914. Van Gogh-Van Dongen-Mondrian, 6 February-13 May 2018
The Hague, De Mesdag Collectie, Nederlanders in Barbizon, 27 October 2017-7 January 2018
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Van Gogh, Rousseau, Corot: in het bos, 7 July-10 September 2017
The Hague, De Mesdag Collectie, Natuur in beeld. Fotografie ontmoet schilderkunst in de 19de eeuw, 5 March-5 June 2016
Paris, Musée d'Orsay, La forêt de Fontainebleau : un atelier grandeur nature, 6 March-13 May 2007
The Hague, Panorama Mesdag, Barbara van Houten 1862-1950 : aquarellen, etsen, schilderijen, 14 April-20 May 1991
Jonkman, Mayken, Dijk, Maite van, Bakker, Nienke, Nederlanders in Parijs 1789-1914, Bussum, 2017, p. 120
Jonkman, Mayken, Dijk, Maite van, Bakker, Nienke, The Dutch in Paris 1789-1914, Bussum, 2017, p. 120
Jonkman, Mayken, Dijk, Maite van, Bakker, Nienke, Les Hollandais à Paris 1789-1914, Paris, 2017, p. 120
Dijk, Maite van, Suijver, Renske, Fitski, M., Smits, C., De Mesdag Collectie, Amsterdam, 2011, p. 37-38
Dijk, Maite van, Suijver, Renske, Fitski, M., Smits, C., The Mesdag Collection, Amsterdam, 2011, p. 37-38
Georgel, Chantal, La forêt de Fontainebleau : un atelier grandeur nature, Paris, 2007, p. 54, 56, 190
Vergeest, Aukje, The French collection : nineteenth-century French paintings in Dutch public collections, Amsterdam, 2000, p. 153
Bodt, Saskia de, Leeman, Fred, Leeuw, Ronald de, Pennock, Hanna, Museum Mesdag : catalogue of paintings and drawings, Zwolle, 1996, p. 62, 183