Pond at the Edge of a Wood

Rousseau depicts the transitional space between a wood and a sunny clearing—a motif he often revisited in his late work. Through swift hatching and short flecks of the pencil, he creates a texture of lush vegetation and evokes the play of light and shadow across the scene. As a leader of the Barbizon school of artists, Rousseau advocated sketching en plein air, and the present sheet, though remarkably detailed, may have been finished entirely outdoors.