  the barbizon school of painters were part of an art movement towards realism in art, which arose in the context of the dominant romantic movement of the time. the barbizon school was active roughly from 1830 through 1870. it takes its name from the village of barbizon, france, near the forest of fontainebleau, where many of the artists gathered. some of the most prominent features of this school are its tonal qualities, color, loose brushwork, and softness of form. ==history== in 1824 the salon de paris exhibited works of john constable, an english painter. his rural scenes influenced some of the younger artists of the time, moving them to abandon formalism and to draw inspiration directly from nature. natural scenes became the subjects of their paintings rather than mere backdrops to dramatic events. during the revolutions of 1848 artists gathered at barbizon to follow constable's ideas, making nature the subject of their paintings. the french landscape became a major theme of the barbizon painters.metropolitan museum of art timeline the leaders of the barbizon school were thÃ©odore rousseau, jean-franÃ§ois millet, and charles-franÃ§ois daubigny; other members included jules duprÃ©, constant troyon, charles jacque, narcisse virgilio dÃ­az, pierre emmanuel damoye, charles olivier de penne, henri harpignies, gabriel-hippolyte lebas (1812â1880), albert charpin, fÃ©lix ziem, franÃ§ois-louis franÃ§ais, Ãmile van marcke, and alexandre defaux. millet extended the idea from landscape to figures &mdash; peasant figures, scenes of peasant life, and work in the fields. in the gleaners (1857), for example, millet portrays three peasant women working at the harvest. gleaners are poor people who are permitted to gather the remains after the owners of the field complete the main harvest. the owners (portrayed as wealthy) and their laborers are seen in the back of the painting. millet shifted the focus and the subject matter from the rich and prominent to those at the bottom of the social ladders. to emphasize their anonymity and marginalized position, he hid their faces. the women's bowed bodies represent their everyday hard work. in the spring of 1829, jean-baptiste-camille corot came to barbizon to paint in the forest of fontainebleau, he had first painted in the forest at chailly in 1822. he returned to barbizon in the autumn of 1830 and in the summer of 1831, where he made drawings and oil studies, from which he made a painti
European_artist_groups_and_collectives French_art_movements Realism_(art_movement)