Paul-Désiré Trouillebert (1829-1900) "The path near the Loire"

Size 41,5 x 32,5 cm
With its original frame: 62 x 51,5 cm

Paul-Désiré Trouillebert was born in 1829 in Paris. He is one of the main landscape painters of the French 19th century. Belonging to the Barbizon school, Trouillebert is the artist closest to Corot in terms of the theme of his paintings, the particular treatment of trees, and the friendly relationship that the two painters maintained throughout their lives. Trouillebert has a predilection for riverside landscapes. The trees are most often birches in the shade of which a character is walking, fishing or gathering wood.

He trained with the renowned portraitist Ernest Hébert (1817-1908) and in the studio of Charles-François Jalabert (1819-1901). Trouillebert was first noticed for his portraits and nudes: the portrait of Mademoiselle A. allowed him to be accepted at the Salon des Artistes Français in 1865, where he exhibited until 1884.

Trouillebert traveled extensively in France, notably in Brittany, the Loire and on the banks of the Seine. He was part of the movement of traditionalist plein air painters, as he stated in an interview with a journalist from L'Echo de Paris in 1890: "I only work from nature, I do not admit the study copied in the studio."

In this painting, Trouillebert uses a technique that he has totally mastered, with some impasto and a lot of transparency in the sky and the trees. The ochre preparation, a true signature of the artist, is very apparent in this work. The treatment of the trees is almost vaporous, the touch is quick and infinitely light, very close in this painting to that of his friend and master Camille Corot. The composition is very open, leaving a great place to the water and the sky. A magnificent work by Trouillebert.

Museums in which works by Trouillebert can be found:
Paris, Musée d'Orsay and Petit Palais
New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Baltimore, Walters Art Museum
Cleveland, Museum of Art
Saint Petersburg, Hermitage Museum
Valparaiso, Fine Arts Museum
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