Artwork Page for In the Forest

Details / Information for In the Forest

In the Forest

1841

Célestin François Nanteuil

(French, 1813–1873)
Culture
France, 19th century
Medium
oil on fabric
Measurements
Framed: 123.2 x 155.6 x 12.7 cm (48 1/2 x 61 1/4 x 5 in.); Unframed: 97 x 129.8 cm (38 3/16 x 51 1/8 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Noah L. Butkin 1977.125
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print

Description

With its beautifully rendered trees, grassy slopes, and water bathed in late afternoon sunlight, this painting clearly suggests Nanteuil's love of nature. In 1837 he wrote to a friend: "I often spend several hours . . . looking at beautiful plants with large leaves, cut out like sumptuous lace, tall grasses in ponds, their color silky and the beautiful reflections they make in the water, the little flowers with thousands of colours the ground is embroidered with, all provide me with a source of enjoyment." Although the forest Nanteuil described seems very real, his painting includes a satyr. Seated on a stone near a stream, the half human, half goat mythological figure seems lost in the music he plays upon his pipes. Nanteuil is most famous for his lithographs and etchings; paintings by the artist are rather rare.
A horizontal oil painting depicts a landscape beneath a blue sky filled with white clouds. A dense forest of dark green and rust-colored trees dominates the center. In the shadowed lower foreground, a figure sits by a dark pool, providing a pop of red with their draped cloth. To the right, small cattle graze near a pond. Sunlight catches the central grassy slope, contrasting with the deep shadows of the surrounding woods and rocks.

In the Forest

1841

Célestin François Nanteuil

(French, 1813–1873)
France, 19th century

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