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French Painters of Nature: The Barbizon School, Landscapes from The Metropolitan Museum of Art debuts at the New York State Museum on May 22.

Open through August 22 in the Museum's West Gallery, the exhibition is the 4th from the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collections and the 12th installment of the Fleet Great Art Series, which brings art from New York City's leading art museums to Albany.

"The Metropolitan Museum of Art is pleased to continue its long-standing tradition of collaboration with the New York State Museum with this presentation of French Painters of Nature," commented David E. McKinney, president of the Metropolitan Museum. "We hope that this exhibition of beautiful 19th-century landscapes from the Metropolitan's extensive collection will bring to art lovers in upstate New York a greater exposure to the works of the Barbizon School and to yet another facet of the Metropolitan's vast holdings."

The exhibition, organized by The Metropolitan, features 70 paintings and works on paper by a group of mid-19th century landscape painters in France known as the Barbizon School. This group was named for its association with the hamlet of Barbizon and the Forest of Fontainebleau, a popular destination for artists and a sanctuary for the growing leisure classes located 35 miles southeast of Paris. This pioneering generation of artists, including Théodore Rousseau, Camille Corot, and Jean-François Millet, turned to their native scenery to commune with nature and record their direct experience. It was a radical departure from the academic tradition of painting that stressed carefully composed historical landscapes and scenes of antiquity. Some artists worked their canvases to a meticulous finish, while others preferred spontaneous brushwork. This dedication to the immediate experience of the outdoors, combined with looser brushwork, led later generations of artists and critics to acknowledge the Barbizon School as the precursor to Impressionism.

Comprised of 42,000 acres of dense woods, meadows, and rocky gorges, the Forest of Fontainebleau offered a varied landscape for artists to explore and interpret according to their interests. The meadows and wide variety of tree specimens were a great attraction for Théodore Rousseau, who
spent more time in the Forest than any of his fellow artists, often guiding them to his favorite haunts.

Jean-François Millet moved his family to Fontainebleau to escape a cholera epidemic following the Revolution of 1848. Millet found his subject matter in the woodcutters and farm laborers of country hamlets, painting them with blunt realism and quiet dignity.

One of the most influential French landscape painters of the 19th century, Camille Corot never settled in Fontainebleau, although its rocky outcroppings and majestic trees were depicted in his early paintings.

Charles-François Daubigny, another accomplished painter, worked in the Forest of Fontainebleau in his early years. Daubigny supported many Impressionists in their early years and urged their inclusion in the Salon exhibitions in Paris.

Dita Amory, associate curator of the Robert Lehman collection, curated the Barbizon exhibition. The New York State Museum expresses its gratitude to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fleet Bank, First Lady Libby Pataki, the New York State Senate, and the New York State Assembly. Further information on the Museum is available at (518) 474-5877 or www.nysm.nysed.gov.

The State Museum is a cultural program of the New York State Department of Education. Started in 1836, the museum has the nation's longest continuously operating state natural history research and collection survey. The museum is located on Madison Avenue in Albany. Further information is available by calling 474-5877 or visiting the museum website at www.nysm.nysed.gov.

The New York State Museum is located on Madison Avenue in Albany. It is open 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week throughout the year except on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. Further information about programs and events can be obtained by calling (518) 474-5877 or visiting the museum website at www.nysm.nysed.gov.