Barbizon School

        This movement occurred earlier than the previous movements I have talked about.  As an important, and often overlooked precurosor or stepping stone, however, it is worth mentioning.  The movement was centered in France and lasted about 40 years from 1830-1870.  Because of its geographical and chronological location it is not surprising that it acted as a bridge between realism and expressionism.  To put it in context it seems to be a combination of all three movements with the precision and truthful representation of Realism, the landscape focus of Impressionism, and the striking dramatic flare of Expressionism.  Light is the key player in Barbizon paintings rather than a political dogma, or emotion.  This was a larger movement compared to other art "schools" including  Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot, Théodore Rousseau, Jean-François Millet and Charles-François Daubigny; other members included Jules Dupré, Constant Troyon, Charles Jacque, Narcisse Virgilio Diaz, Pierre Emmanuel Damoye, Charles Olivier de Penne, Henri Harpignies, Gabriel Hippolyte LeBas (1812-1880), Albert Charpin, Félix Ziem, François-Louis Français, Emile van Marcke and Alexandre DeFaux.  These artists were linked by a sense of rebellion against the pervailing Romanticism of the time and an urge to abandon formalism and draw inspiration directly from nature.  While some artists like Jean-Francois Millet stretched this and painted peasants in nature, this was less common.  The school is named after the French village where the artists gathered during the European revolutions of 1848 to find asylum.