The Crozant School (French: ''École de Crozant'') is named after

Crozant Crozant (; oc, Crosenc) is a commune in the Creuse department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in France. Geography A tourism and farming village situated some northeast of Guéret, on the D72 and by the banks of the river Creuse, the boundar ...

, a

Commune of France The () is a level of administrative division in the French Republic. French are analogous to civil townships and incorporated municipalities in the United States and Canada, ' in Germany, ' in Italy, or ' in Spain. The United Kingdom's equi ...

at the northern limit of the department of

Creuse Creuse (; oc, Cruesa or ) is a department in central France named after the river Creuse. After Lozère, it is the second least populated department in France. It is bordered by Indre and Cher to the north, Allier and Puy-de-Dôme to the eas ...

. It consists of a host of landscape painters who worked from 1830 to 1950 on the banks of the Grande Creuse, Petite Creuse, Sédelle and Gargilesse rivers near the communes of Crozant and

Fresselines Fresselines (; oc, Fraisselinas) is a Communes of France, commune in the Creuse Departments of France, department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Regions of France, region in central France. Geography A tourism and farming village situated some nort ...

. The "Crozant School" is simply a convenient name to designate all those who have found inspiration in the Creuse valleys: it is a "school without a master". In little more than a century, nearly 500 painters frequented the region.

History

Abandonment of neoclassical

John Constable - Cottage at East Bergholt

At the start of the 19th century, artistic fashion had settled around the neoclassical tradition as exemplified by the work of the painter

Jacques-Louis David Jacques-Louis David (; 30 August 1748 – 29 December 1825) was a French painter in the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the era. In the 1780s, his cerebral brand of history painting marked a change in ...

. Alongside this academicism, the romantic tradition formalized by Gericault, Bonington and

Delacroix Delacroix is a French surname that derives from ''de la Croix'' ("of the Cross"). It may refer to: People * Caroline Delacroix (1883–1945), French-Romanian mistress of Leopold II of Belgium * Charles-François Delacroix (1741–1805), ...

was gaining momentum. In 1824, the

Paris Salon The Salon (french: Salon), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial art ...

exhibited some of the works of

John Constable John Constable (; 11 June 1776 – 31 March 1837) was an English landscape painter in the Romanticism, Romantic tradition. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for revolutionising the genre of landscape painting with his pictures of Dedha ...

. His rural scenes had a decisive influence on younger artists, leading them to abandon the formalism of the time and take their inspiration from Nature. They produced paintings, often of rural scenes, that broke from the dramatic mythological themes. During the 1848 revolution, the painters that would soon be associated with Crozant school or the

Barbizon school The Barbizon school of painters were part of an art movement towards Realism in art, which arose in the context of the dominant Romantic Movement of the time. The Barbizon school was active roughly from 1830 through 1870. It takes its name f ...

got together and deliberately opted to follow Constable's precepts, to make nature itself the subject of their paintings. Among them,

Millet Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most species generally referred to as millets belong to the tribe Paniceae, but some millets al ...

spread his vision of landscapes with figures, depicting peasants and farm work. ''

The Gleaners ''The Gleaners'' (''Des glaneuses'') is an oil painting by Jean-François Millet completed in 1857 in art, 1857. It depicts three peasant women gleaning a field of stray stalks of wheat after the harvest. The painting is famous for featuring in ...

'' (1857) is a perfect example, showing three peasant busy gleaning after the harvest, without staging or dramatic effects but simply an evocation of the simple life. Jean-Baptiste Armand Guillaumin 002

Origin of Crozant

Fresselines is located about fifty kilometers from

Nohant Nohant-Vic () is a commune in the Indre department in central France. It is located near La Châtre, on the D943, approximately southeast of Châteauroux and consists of two villages, Vic and Nohant, extended along the road. Geography The com ...

, the home of

George Sand Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin de Francueil (; 1 July 1804 – 8 June 1876), best known by her pen name George Sand (), was a French novelist, memoirist and journalist. One of the most popular writers in Europe in her lifetime, bein ...

(1804-1876). She and her prestigious guests enjoyed walks in the Creuze valleys around Fresselines and Crozant. She would evoke Crozant or Fresselines in several of her novels: ''Lettres d'un voyageur (Letters of a traveler)'', ''Le péché de Monsieur Antoine (the Sin of Monsieur Antoine)'' and ''Jeanne''. In 1857 George Sand's friend Alexandre Manceau offered her a small house in Dampierre-Gargilesse ten kilometers from Crozant. She was to spend several visits there. The fame of Crozant and its surroundings attracted many artists.

School without a master

The term "Crozant School" appeared as early as 1864, during the ''Exposition des beaux-arts'',

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (P ...

of 1864 (Palais des Champs-Elysées). Since then, many artists have transited through the Valley of the Creuse and especially through

and

Gargilesse ''Gargilesse'' is an album by Florent Marchet released in 2004 on Universal Records. Track listing # "Levallois" # "Tous Pareils" # "Mes Nouveaux Amis" # "Dimanche" # "Je N'ai Pensé Qu'à Moi" # "Le Meilleur De Nous Deux" # "Avez-Vous Déjà Son ...

. The term is a generic since no teacher ever taught in the Creuse valleys. Similarly, it was not until 1890 that the term "Barbizon School" appeared in the work of Scottish art critic David Croal Thomson entitled: ''The Barbizon School of Painters''. Art historians have disputed the idea that there was ever a "school" at

Barbizon Barbizon () is a commune (town) in the Seine-et-Marne department in north-central France. It is located near the Fontainebleau Forest. Demographics The inhabitants are called ''Barbizonais''. Art history The Barbizon school of painters is name ...

. The Barbizan school is a set of artists with very different styles who at very different times found inspiration in the

Forest of Fontainebleau The forest of Fontainebleau (french: Forêt de Fontainebleau, or ''Forêt de Bière'', meaning "forest of heather") is a mixed deciduous forest lying southeast of Paris, France. It is located primarily in the arrondissement of Fontainebleau i ...

Artists of the Crozant School

Painters

Smith Alfred - Crozant La Sédelle en octobre (c 1923)

Jules Dupré Jules Louis Dupré (April 5, 1811 – October 6, 1889) was a French painter, one of the chief members of the Barbizon school of landscape painters. If Corot stands for the lyric and Rousseau for the epic aspect of the poetry of nature, Dupré i ...

(1811-1889) * Armand Cassagne (1823-1907) *

Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, , ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During ...

(1840-1926) visited Fresselines from March to May 1889, where he painted a series on the site of the confluence of the two rivers. He created 23 paintings in the Valley. * Father

Laurent Guétal Laurent Guétal, also known as the Abbé Guétal (12 December 1841, Vienne (Isère), Vienne - 18 February 1892, Grenoble) was a French landscape painter and Catholic priest. Life and work He was ordained a priest in 1862, and spent much of his ...

(1841-1892). *

Armand Guillaumin Armand Guillaumin (; February 16, 1841 – June 26, 1927) was a French impressionist painter and lithographer. Biography Early years Born Jean-Baptiste Armand Guillaumin in Paris, he worked at his uncle's lingerie shop while attending eveni ...

(1841-1927), who had the luck to win the jackpot of the National Lottery (1891), was now free from material cares and devoted himself totally to painting. In 1893 he chose Crozant as his favorite residence. Not far from the Crozant church is a bronze bust of Guillaumin. *

Ernest Victor Hareux Ernest Victor Hareux (18 February 1847, Paris - 16 February 1909, Grenoble) was a French painter of landscapes and Genre art, genre scenes. Biography He displayed a talent for drawing at the age of ten, and studied with several well known arti ...

(1847-1909) is known as a member of the dauphinoise school, but like many of his contemporaries he was involved for a time in the Creuse valleys. *

Ernst Josephson Ernst Abraham Josephson (1851-1906) was a Swedish painter and poet. He specialized in portraits, genre scenes of folklife and folklore. Background He was born to a middle-class family of merchants of Jewish ancestry. His uncle, Ludvig Josephso ...

(1851-1906) * Édouard Pail (1851-1916) *

Maurice Leloir Maurice Leloir (1 November 1853 – 7 October 1940) was a French illustrator, watercolourist, draftsman, printmaker, writer and collector. Biography Leloir was the son, and pupil, of painter and watercolorist Héloïse Suzanne Colin, daughte ...

(1853-1940), and the Leloir dynasty * Alfred Smith (1854-1932) *

Pierre Ernest Ballue Pierre Ernest Ballue (27 February 1855 – 18 May 1928) was a French landscape painter and designer, associated with the Barbizon School. Biography He was born in La Haye-Descartes. His family's presence there and in Buxeuil goes back to th ...

(1855-1928), who was also associated with the Barbizon School * Léon Detroy (1857-1955) * Henri Charrier (1859-1950) *

Fernand Maillaud Fernand Maillaud (1862-1948) was a French painter, illustrator, ébéniste and tapestry designer. Biography His father was a carpenter, and his mother was a teacher. They moved frequently as his mother was reassigned. In 1878, when his father ...

(1862-1948) * Paul Madeline (1863-1920) *

William Didier-Pouget William Didier-Pouget (14 November 1864 – 12 September 1959) was a French artist known for his landscape paintings. He focused primarily on the countryside of southern France, infusing his landscapes, always painted outdoors (en plein air), wit ...

(1864-1959) * Eugène Alluaud (1866-1947) * (1879-1964) *

Anders Osterlind Anders Osterlind, a French painter, was born in Lépaud (Creuse) on June 12, 1887. He died in Paris on January 5, 1960. He was the son of the painter Allan Österlind and the father of watercolorist Nanic Osterlind. During his youth, Osterlind w ...

(1887-1960) * (1900-1953)

Author and poet

The poet

Maurice Rollinat Maurice Rollinat (December 29, 1846 in Châteauroux, Indre – October 26, 1903 in Ivry-sur-Seine) was a French poet and musician. Early works His father represented Indre in the National Assembly of 1848, and was a friend of George Sand, whose i ...

(1846-1903), godson of

, retired to Fresselines in 1883 to continue his work there. He was surrounded with friends with whom he shared the last years of his life.

Maurice Leblanc Maurice Marie Émile Leblanc (; ; 11 December 1864 – 6 November 1941) was a French novelist and writer of short stories, known primarily as the creator of the fictional gentleman thief and detective Arsène Lupin, often described as a French c ...

visited Rollinat, whom he had known in Paris. In 1886, he published ''l'Abîme (The Abyss)'', then ''Paysages et Paysans (Landscapes and Peasants)'' and a prose collection ''En errant (Wandering)''. On Rollinat's death in 1903,

Auguste Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor, generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a uniqu ...

offered the Fresselines commune a bas-relief entitled "Poet and the Muse". This sculpture is on display on the wall of the village church.

Epilogue

In 1926, a new story began for the banks of the Creuse, which were flooded by the waters of the largest dam in Europe at the time, the Eguzon Dam, for production of hydroelectricity. The new tourist attraction is now

Lac de Chambon The Lac de Chambon (''Chambon Lake'') is an artificial lake on the river Creuse, France, created by the Éguzon Dam, a hydroelectric dam. Beaches have been created around the lake, the largest in the Centre Region. There is a sailing school on the ...

. The deep gorges lost some of the wilderness character that had appealed to the painters, but the region gained a tourist area in the "Plage de Fougères".