40. FRÉDÉRIC BAZILLE (1841-1870) Rocks at Chailly, Forest of Fontainebleau dated 'August 1865' (lower right) oil on canvas Painted in 1865 35 x 27 cm. The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by Michel Schulman. This work is listed under no. MSb-285 in the online Catalogue Raisonné. Provenance The artist's family. Collection Général Cazalis, France (husband of Thérèse des Hours, Bazille's cousin). Probably Galerie Blot, Paris. Horndasch Collection, Germany. Private collection. Dazzled by the light of his native Languedoc, Frédéric Bazille nevertheless decided to leave it to discover new horizons. Under the pretext of continuing his medical studies at the Faculty of Medicine in Paris - even though Montpellier was the best at the time - he managed to persuade his parents to let him go to the capital and even to continue to support him. Bazille obviously had other aspirations: painting, which Alfred Bruyas, a great collector, was to inspire in him. In Paris, Bazille enrolled at the Atelier Gleyre, where he met Monet, Renoir and Sisley. In April 1863, he wrote to his father: "I'm going to spend the next week in the forest of Fontainebleau with two or three friends from the [Gleyre] studio; I'll try to make some studies of trees" (1). In a letter dated 22 April 1863, he wrote again to his mother: "I went to spend eight days in the little village of Chailly near the forest of Fontainebleau. I was with my friend Monet [not comrade!] from Le Havre, who is quite good at landscapes. The forest is really admirable" (2). Two years later, in August 1865, Bazille returned to Chailly at Monet's insistence, to serve as a model for his Déjeuner sur l'herbe. On 31 August 1865, he wrote to his father: "I have been in Chailly since last Saturday, and solely to do Monet a favour" (3). Taking advantage of the fine weather, he painted Sous-bois à Chailly and Rochers à Chailly. Rochers à Chailly, forêt de Fontainebleau (Rocks at Chailly, forest of Fontainebleau) perfectly captures the atmosphere of a landscape in the forest of Fontainebleau, with its imposing rocks and sparse birch trees, the main one of which, in the centre of the painting, seems to be emerging from a rocky crevice. But this is not the case, as the subject is reminiscent of his Study of Trees, painted two years earlier in 1863. The influence of the Barbizon painters is clearly felt, and Théodore Rousseau, the great master of the forest and its oak trees, would not contradict this. The rocks are imposing in their mass, and the one on the right catches the eye: rocks covered by the sea 35 million years ago. On the left, the transparency of the birch trunks makes them look as if they have been painted in watercolour, reminding us of Harpignies, a master in this field. -Michel Schulman- (1)Michel Schulman, Bazille. Catalogue Raisonné, 1995, Letter no. 33, p. 325 (2)Idem, Letter no. 36, p. 325 (3)Idem, Letter no. 121, p. 347