The Rainbow

The set of paintings on the subject of the 'four seasons' was a commission from Frédéric Hartmann, Théodore Rousseau’s former patron, a major enthusiast of the Barbizon School. The oil paintings were executed by the artist more or less continuously between 1868 and 1874.
The motif of this pastel is the arrival of spring, an allusion highlighted by the presence of the rainbow. The sky, which is changeable like the variations of the season itself, contrasts with the light projected onto the blossoming tree in the same section of the painting. A male figure in the distance can be seen behind the cultivated field, Millet’s garden in Barbizon.
Although smaller than its oil version, 'Spring' (Musée d’Orsay, Paris), it reveals an identical creative intention, with some variations in the detail in the foreground. The treatment of light recalls the painting of major landscape artists like Jacob Ruisdael and John Constable.