Chips Lovell’s father was a painter whose “insipid, Barbizonish little landscapes, not wholly devoid of merit,  never sold beyond his own circle of friends. ” [ALM 16/14 ]

Fontainebleau, Oak Trees at Bas-Breau
Camille Corot, 1832-3
Oil on paper laid down on wood; 15 5/8 x 19 1/2 in.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The ‘Barbizon school‘ refers to a group of French nineteenth century landscape painters, including Jean-Francois Millet, Theodore Rousseau, and Camille Corot, who painted realistically  from nature, working outdoors in the Forest of Fontainbleau, and often meeting in the nearby village of Barbizon. Their work departed from the neoclassical landscapes of Poussin and Claude Lorraine.  Among their inspirations was Constable’s exhibit at the Paris Salon of 1824