Terms and conditions of use
A forest clearing
(Une Clairière dans la forêt)
(c. 1870)
Medium
oil on wood panel
Measurements
30.0 × 40.8 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1955
Gallery location
19th Century European Paintings Gallery
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
Narcisse Diaz de La Peña (who signed his paintings simply as ‘N. Diaz’) started out working as a porcelain artist in Paris, and painting in oils in his spare time. In 1834 Diaz had his first work admitted to the Salon, and the following year he visited Barbizon for the first time. From this time onwards, for Diaz painting outdoors directly before nature played an important part in his art. Diaz painted moody forest views throughout his career using dense and thickly applied paint. He favoured stormy and shadowy settings, in which the light trunks of the forest’s beech and birch trees shone almost as if illuminated by lightning.
Artwork Details
Accession Number
3258-4
Department
International Painting
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Ms Carol Grigor through Metal Manufactures Limited
Subjects (general)
Landscapes
Subjects (specific)
clearings (landforms) forests (cultural landscapes) paths trees wooded landscapes
Provenance
With Hazlitt Gallery (dealer), London, by 1955; from where acquired for the Felton Bequest on the advice of A.J.L. McDonnell, 1955.[1]
[1] See Felton correspondence, McDonnell to Felton Bequest Committee, letter no. 109, 18 May 1955. Acquired with Daubigny (3261-4) and Rousseau (3260-4).