The Crooked Tree at the Carrefour de l'Epine
Théodore Rousseau (1812 - 1867), 1852
oil on canvas, 82 cm x 100.6 cm
Credits: The Mesdag Collection, The Hague
The great age of this oak is typical for the ancient forest of Fontainebleau. Rousseau lived in Barbizon, a village on the edge of the forest.
Rousseau’s connection to nature was very strong. It was thanks to him that Napoleon III signed a decree in 1861 to turn a large part of the forest into a nature reserve. This was the first nature reserve in the world. Despite all these efforts, Carrefour de l’Epine is now a car park. The oak is no more.
- Object number
- hwm0292
- Dimensions
- 82 cm x 100.6 cm, 105 cm x 124 cm, 10 cm
- Provenance
- Probably auction Paris, Hôtel Drouot (Théodore Rousseau), lot 54 (Carrefour de l’Epine), sold for FRF 510, 27 April-2 May 1868; Hendrik Willem Mesdag and Sientje Mesdag-van Houten, The Hague, in or before 1903; 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
- Théodore Rousseau
- Credits
- The Mesdag Collection, The Hague
Paris, Petit Palais, Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris, Théodore Rousseau. The revelation of nature., 5 March-7 July 2024
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
Nagoya, Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art, Van Gogh and Gauguin. Reality and Imagination, 3 January-20 March 2017
Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Van Gogh and Gauguin. Reality and Imagination, 8 October-18 December 2016
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
Jonkman, Mayken, Dijk, Maite van, Bakker, Nienke, Nederlanders in Parijs 1789-1914, Bussum, 2017, p. 117, 119
Jonkman, Mayken, Dijk, Maite van, Bakker, Nienke, The Dutch in Paris 1789-1914, Bussum, 2017, p. 117, 119
Jonkman, Mayken, Dijk, Maite van, Bakker, Nienke, Les Hollandais à Paris 1789-1914, Paris, 2017, p. 117, 119
Georgel, Chantal, La forêt de Fontainebleau : un atelier grandeur nature, Paris, 2007, p. 80-81, 194
Bosma, Marja, Vergeest, Aukje, Bakker, Nienke, Franse Passie : Courbet, Daubigny, Monet : Franse schilderkunst in Nederlands bezit, Utrecht, 2006, p. 54-56
Vergeest, Aukje, The French collection : nineteenth-century French paintings in Dutch public collections, Amsterdam, 2000, p. 285
Bodt, Saskia de, Leeman, Fred, Leeuw, Ronald de, Pennock, Hanna, Museum Mesdag : catalogue of paintings and drawings, Zwolle, 1996, p. 388-389