Cerf Dans La Forêt De Fontainebleau 1875 - 1880

Editor: Right, so next up we have Félix Ziem's "Cerf Dans La Forêt De Fontainebleau", dating from somewhere between 1875 and 1880. Painted in oil, it's an absolutely enchanting little landscape. I'm struck by the calmness. What do you make of this piece? Curator: Calmness is a lovely way to describe it. I see…hmm, let's call it a yearning. Ziem was clearly smitten with Fontainebleau; many artists were. But he brings his unique perspective – look at the wispy brushstrokes. It’s almost as if the trees are breathing, or like looking through a memory. The landscape seems suspended between reality and… a really gorgeous dream, don’t you think? Editor: I see what you mean, the haziness gives it a very ethereal quality. The title focuses us on the deer but I find that its tiny form recedes into the scenery, no? It is more like a trace. Curator: Exactly. Ziem’s playing with scale, dwarfing the deer, making nature the star. The human presence, or any animal’s, really, seems so fleeting in comparison to the landscape’s ancient rhythm. Do you pick up on the almost tangible presence of a wind rippling through the slender, luminous trees? It gives a sense of perpetual movement within the calm. It is almost theatrical. Editor: That's a really beautiful way to put it – perpetual movement. I had only felt its stillness. It does offer something new each time you look! Curator: It’s a gentle reminder, isn't it, that beauty resides in those liminal spaces, between what’s visible and what stirs within. Editor: This was incredibly insightful, thank you! Curator: My pleasure; art is only alive when shared.