Forest in paintings is a common subject, it is one of the favorite motifs of landscape artists. Surrounded by trees, a person seems to enter another world and can completely escape from everyday worries. A forest landscape can look different: the forest is depicted in greenery, autumn colors and under the snow. Some are attracted by bright glades and streams framed by trees, while others are more interested in the mysterious shady thicket. Let’s see how masters from different countries and art schools depicted forest landscapes.

Forest in paintings. Dutch landscape

Forest in paintings, like other natural views, became a common phenomenon in Holland in the 17th century. Individual images of trees were encountered earlier, but these were rather exceptions or a background for the main plot. For the Dutch, the landscape was the center of attention, it was painted in detail and realistically. The most famous landscape artist of the Dutch Golden Age is Jacob van Ruisdael. He left behind many works with beautifully painted forest landscapes.

The forest in Ruisdael’s paintings is often supplemented by evidence of the presence of people. There are figures of a horse, a cart or a traveler, which seem tiny compared to the mighty trees. Sometimes the artist places a dried-up or broken tree in the foreground. It embodies the idea of ​​the transience of life and its inevitable end.

Other Dutchmen also painted forest landscapes. For example, Alexander Keirincx specialized in them. Jacob van Ruisdael had a strong influence on English landscape painters of the 18th and early 19th centuries. His works were studied by Thomas Gainsborough and the representative of English romanticism John Constable. The latter became famous for his landscapes painted in rural areas.

Barbizon School

At the beginning of the 19th century, paints appeared in tubes, which were convenient to carry with you. This was taken advantage of by the representatives of the Barbizon school, who traveled outside their studios to paint from life. The Barbizon artists rejected the traditions of classicism, which used the landscape only as a background. They also did not like the embellished works of the romantics. These enthusiasts spent a lot of time in the Fontainebleau forest, where the village of Barbizon, which gave the school its name, is located.

They painted nature as they saw it, considering it self-sufficient and not requiring embellishment. The main inspiration for the Barbizon school was Theodore Rousseau. He admired the forest and spent more time in nature than anyone else – he painted from life at any time of day and in any season. He returned to Paris only to exhibit or sell his finished works. Rousseau said that an old oak tree was as beautiful to him as a sculpture by Michelangelo. When the Fontainebleau forest began to suffer from rapid industrial development, Rousseau and his colleagues convinced Napoleon III to create a reserve on the territory of the oldest forest plots and saved their oaks from being cut down.

At the same time as the Barbizon artists, but separately from them, Camille Corot created his pensive landscapes. His paintings are mostly monochrome, but the subtle transitions of shades convey a melancholic mood well.

At the same time as the Barbizon artists, but separately from them, Camille Corot created his pensive landscapes. His paintings are mostly monochrome, but the subtle transitions of shades convey a melancholic mood well.

Realism of Gustave Courbet

Camille Corot was friends with one of the most important French artists of the 19th century, Gustave Courbet. This artist became the founder of realism in painting. He set himself the goal of depicting reality without embellishment, moving towards naturalism in his later works. Courbet left many works in different genres. He painted portraits, genre scenes, erotic paintings, and often raised social themes. His talent was most clearly manifested in landscapes, including forest ones, in which the nature of France appears as if it were alive.

Both the representatives of the Barbizon school with their custom of plein air painting and Corot with his mood landscapes became the forerunners of the Impressionists. The artists of this movement sought to capture fleeting moments on canvas. They depicted the variability and diversity of the surrounding reality. The landscape is perfect for these purposes, because it changes constantly: from just one change in lighting or angle of view. Forest views are represented in the works of Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro and Alfred Sisley.

The Post-Impressionists offered their own view of nature, including the most prominent of them, Vincent van Gogh. This artist passionately loved nature in its various manifestations. He often depicted tall cypresses and spreading olive trees. His work includes forest landscapes painted in the characteristic “Van Gogh” style with an extraordinary contrast of colors. There are also softer works, close in spirit to impressionism.

Nature also plays an important role in the works of Paul Cezanne. He traveled to paint from nature with Camille Pissarro, but the methods of these painters were opposite. The impressionist Pissarro drew attention to the variability of views, filling them with light and air. Cezanne, on the contrary, tried to express the basis, the quintessence of what he saw, which always remains unchanged. His works are characterized by experiments with perspective and the absence of straight lines.

Forest in the paintings of Russian artists

Russian landscape painters often depicted forests with great skill. Everyone remembers “Morning in a Pine Forest” by Ivan Shishkin and other works by this artist. Shishkin traveled to dense forests untouched by man and noted the features of each type of tree, bush and grass. Pines, birches, oaks and ferns – everything is depicted truthfully and with knowledge of nature. Forests and groves were painted by many Itinerants, Isaac Levitan and other masters.