James Bertrand (1823-1887), Forest Of Fontainebleau, Oil On Paper Mounted On Canvas

Jean-Baptiste BERTRAND, known as James BERTRAND
Lyon 1823 - Orsay 1887

Forest of Fontainebleau
oil on paper mounted on canvas
Signed lower left
16,5 x 26,5cm
26,5cm x 36,5cm framed.

   Jean-Baptiste Bertrand, known as James Bertrand, was born in Lyon in 1823 and died in Orsay in 1887. He was a French painter and engraver, a student of Claude Bonnefond at the School of Fine Arts in Lyon between 1839 and 1841. He then moved to Paris, and became a student of Alphonse Périn at the School of Fine Arts between 1842 and 1843. He traveled to Italy between 1857 and 1862, a stay during which he became friends with three sculptors French: Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, Alexandre Falguière and Auguste Clésinger. Thanks to these meetings, his painting style evolved upon his return to France. The shapes have become firmer and the lines become less vigorous. He also presented paintings at the Salons of 1857, 1861, 1863 and 1869. He painted various subjects throughout his career, moving from religious themes to historical or mythological subjects, from interior scenes to landscapes, without forgetting portraits.
   Our painting is a set of these last two themes probably providing us with a preparatory study for a larger painting representing this young woman, almost allegorical, sitting under her rocks in the forest of Fontainebleau.