Nymphs in the wood

Monticelli is a strange figure of a nineteenth-century painter. Of a humble and shy nature, he spent his life in poverty, although over time his works were appreciated by artists of much greater prominence, such as Cézanne and Van Gogh. In particular, the latter declared that his work was, in fact, a continuation of the art of Monticelli. Why did the Arles visionary give such importance to this almost amateur painter of Marseilles? Probably because Monticelli tried to free his brushstroke from any rigid convention. He loved painting portraits and, more frequently, wooded landscapes in which female figures often appear. In addition, he created a series of works that recall eighteenth-century France, using the touch of an extremely delicate and sensitive brush, without being exactly Impressionist. In the painting we see here, it almost seems as though Adolphe is anticipating Symbolism. Indeed, on one hand he had a connection with the so-called School of Barbizon, which favored the forests around Paris; yet on the other hand, he showed a strange mixture of genius and uneasiness which inevitably led him to more advanced destinations. Here are the bodies of young girls, modern nymphs that stand before a background made of trees not exactly in perspective, nevertheless giving the work as a whole a true, intriguing spirit of inspiration. Also beautiful is the figure of uncertain sex that we find in the foreground.