Artwork
After the Rain
After the Rain is an oil painting by the Barbizon school artist Théodore Rousseau. It dates from 1850 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Technique & Style
05 centimeters in width, dimensions documented in the National Gallery of Art's collection records.
After the Rain is an oil painting executed on canvas, reflecting Théodore Rousseau's accomplished technique in handling oil paint to achieve atmospheric depth and precise rendering of light. The work measures 78.74 centimeters in height by 146.05 centimeters in width, dimensions documented in the National Gallery of Art's collection records. Its surface demonstrates careful application of glazes and fine brushwork characteristic of 19th-century French landscape painting, with the artist employing layered oil paint to suggest moisture and movement in the depicted rain-soaked environment.
The painting's support is a sturdy canvas, prepared to support the substantial oil medium without warping, ensuring structural integrity through centuries of handling and display.
History & Provenance
Théodore Rousseau’s After the Rain was painted in 1850, as recorded in the artist’s corpus and corroborated by the work’s Wikidata entry.
The painting first entered the market at the Edwards sale in Paris on 7 March 1870, where it was lot 32. By 1899 it had passed to C.G. Candano in Paris, who sold it that same year to the American collector William A. Clark. Clark bequeathed the work to the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. in 1926. In 2014 the National Gallery of Art, Washington, acquired it as part of the Corcoran’s holdings.
The painting is held by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., where it entered as part of the bequest of William A. Clark in 1926 and was accessioned by the Corcoran Gallery of Art before transfer to the National Gallery of Art in 2014. Its inventory within the Corcoran’s holdings was recorded as no. 107 in William Andrews Clark’s 1925 manuscript catalogue.
The work was previously owned by C.G. Candano, Paris, after its sale from the Edwards collection in Paris at Hôtel Drouot on 7 March 1870 (lot 32).
Overview
Created around 1850, "After the Rain" is an oil on canvas by French landscape painter Théodore Rousseau. The work presents a quiet rural scene rendered in muted browns and greens, dominated by a stand of tall, leafy trees that rise from a modest field strewn with rocks and low bushes beneath a cloud‑filled, gray sky.
Subject & Meaning
The composition centers on a grove of trees, suggesting a moment of stillness following a recent shower. The subdued palette and the softened outlines convey the damp atmosphere and the lingering moisture in the air, inviting contemplation of nature’s quiet resilience after weather’s passage.
Artist & collection
Artist
Étienne Pierre Théodore Rousseau (French pronunciation:; 15 April 1812 – 22 December 1867) was a French painter of the Barbizon school.
