The Old Oak

After starting his career as a decorator at his father's porcelain factory, Dupré began to paint landscapes. He emerged at the Paris Salon of 1839 as one of the foremost French artists specializing in landscapes. He befriended the artists Constant Troyon and Théodore Rousseau and, in 1832, visited England, where he became acquainted with the British masters John Constable, Joseph Mallord William Turner, and Richard Parkes Bonnington. Although Dupré is associated with the Barbizon school of landscape painting, he preferred to work alone in the village of l'Îsle-Adam north of Paris. He specialized in forest scenes, often silhouetting trees against the sky. This view of the forest around l'Île-Adam illustrates his distinctively rich paint textures and the almost surrealist intensity of his colors. Careful examination reveals that he extended the original size of his canvas on all four sides.