Artwork Page for Study of a Birch Tree, Barbizon

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Study of a Birch Tree, Barbizon

1860s-1870s

Constant Alexandre Famin

(French, 1827–1888)
Culture
France, 19th century
Medium
albumen print from wet collodion negative
Measurements
Image: 25.9 x 18 cm (10 3/16 x 7 1/16 in.); Matted: 50.8 x 40.6 cm (20 x 16 in.)
Credit Line
John L. Severance Fund 1994.93
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print

Description

During his brief career in photography, Famin produced photographic studies of varied motifs, including figures, animals, and elements of landscape, from which young artists learned by copying and seasoned professionals borrowed for their studio compositions. Like an Impressionist painting, this isolated scene of impressive birch trees in the Barbizon forest is animated by a sparkling, dissolving light.
A vertically oriented albumen print photograph features a large birch tree leaning right against a dense background of thinner trees. The white bark is marked by dark, horizontal patches above a foreground of textured grass and a small rock. The entire scene is rendered in warm sepia and cream tones, with soft light highlighting the vertical trunks and delicate foliage of the hazy woodland.

Study of a Birch Tree, Barbizon

1860s-1870s

Constant Alexandre Famin

(French, 1827–1888)
France, 19th century

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