The Marsh

1840

Constant Troyon (French, 1810–1865)

Small figures of washerwomen cleaning their clothing in a marsh and laying them out to dry animate this bucolic landscape, along with a few animals. As a member of the Barbizon School—an artistic group that often worked in Fontainebleau, a forest outside Paris—Constant Troyon was interested in scenes of everyday rural life that emphasized nature’s inherent drama. He was known for his depictions of sky, which capture atmosphere and light through a free, painterly technique that later inspired the Impressionists, including Claude Monet.

Status: On View, Gallery 222
Department: Painting and Sculpture of Europe

Artist: Constant Troyon
Title: The Marsh
Place: France (Artist's nationality:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 1840
Medium: Oil on canvas
Inscriptions: Inscribed: C. Troyon (lower left); Mr. Levaigneur 1840 (inside of original frame)
Dimensions: 93 × 140 cm (36 1/2 × 55 in.); Framed: 122 × 169 cm (48 × 66 1/2 in.)
Credit Line: Purchased with funds provided by David and Mary Winton Green
Reference Number: 1996.649
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/146272/manifest.json

Louis Soullié, Peintures, pastels, dessins de Constant Troyon, Librairies Spéciales des Catalogues de vente, Paris, 1900, p. 10. ?
Gloria Groom, “The Marsh,” Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies 30, 1, pp. 64-65 (color ills.).

Chicago, Art Institute, Troyon’s “The Marsh,” May 9–August 2, 1998, no cat.

Mme. Lavaigneur collection, probably by 1840 [inscribed on the inside of original frame: Mr. Levaigneur 1840]; her estate sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, May 2, 1912, lot 19 (ill.); sold to Lemaréchal for 24,100 Francs [acc. to Gazette de Hôtel Drouot (May 4, 1912)]. Robert Hellebranth, Paris. Galerie Koller’s Sale, Zurich, November 11, 1981, lot 5047 (ill. 61); private collection; Sotheby’s Sale, London, June 12, 1996, lot 44 (ill.). Stair Sainty Matthiesen Inc., New York, 1996; sold to the Art Institute, 1996.

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.