Imagine a medieval painting: holy figures occupy the entire scene, and behind them, barely visible, a few stylized trees serve as decoration. Now, think of Monet's Water Lilies or the Fontainebleau forests: here, the tree reigns supreme. Between these two extremes lies the whole story of landscape painting.
From simple decor to true protagonist
During the Middle Ages, the tree remains a timid supporting character. Illuminations and tapestries confine it to the background of religious scenes. Fra Angelico, in the Quattrocento, paints The Flight into Egypt with frail trees, almost transparent, which do not dare to impose themselves in the composition.
Everything changes during the Italian Renaissance. Titian moves the lines by associating trees with human emotions. His drawing Le Bosquet reveals a meticulous observation: he draws the frost on the trunks, the entanglement of roots, the movement of foliage in the wind. The tree is no longer an abstract symbol; it becomes a subject of study.
Northern Europe goes even further. Albrecht Dürer engraves old oaks with broken branches, pine trees with broken trunks. Bruegel observes nature with such precision that he anticipates the Impressionists who will paint « on the spot » three centuries later.
The 17th century marks a decisive turning point: the cypress, with its perfect silhouette, symbolizes man's mastery over nature. In 1816, an official consecration arrives. The Rome Prize for historical landscape creates the « tree contest » test: six days to paint a tree detached against the sky, an indigenous species determined on the morning of the first day.
The Romantic period (1830-1860) accomplishes the final revolution. Corot paints Fontainebleau, black oaks of Bas-Bréau, Rousseau realizes Group of oaks at Apremont: the tree now occupies the full format. What was once a simple preparatory study becomes a painting in its own right.
Techniques that reinvent themselves with each era
Roger de Piles, in the 17th century, does not mince his words: painting trees constitutes « the greatest ordeal for beginner painters » and « the most difficult part of landscape ». This difficulty explains why techniques have constantly evolved.
Nicolas Poussin, an emblematic figure of French classicism, composes directories of tree models. Each species, each distance has its typical pattern that assistants can reuse. A pragmatic method, comparable to Hokusai's Japanese manuals.
Alexander Cozens, a London drawing teacher in the 18th century, goes even further. He classifies twenty forms of clouds, arranges trees alphabetically, and invents a revolutionary method: starting from ink or watercolor stains to construct the representation. John Constable, however champion of plein air painting, studies this paradoxical method.
The Barbizon school blows up conventions. No more sketches in nature followed by composition in the studio. Artists paint directly on the spot. Result: a freshness, a spontaneity never seen before.
Impressionists perfect the method. Monet never uses a single green for foliage: he layers blues, yellows, and purples. Quick brushstrokes create the illusion of shimmering. Striking statistic: between 1830 and 1870, more than 200 painters from Barbizon produce thousands of tree studies, making Fontainebleau the first laboratory of modern painting (Source: The Forest of Fontainebleau, a life-size workshop).
The tree that structures the entire painting
How can a plant element organize an entire composition? During the Renaissance, trees function as backdrops. Their dark mass in the foreground creates the depth of the scene. The trunk and branches ensure the transition between the painted landscape and the frame of the painting.
The 17th-century Baroque theory systematizes this approach. Louis Galloche asserts that "the study of trees allows one to understand the intelligence of chiaroscuro." Learning to paint a landscape becomes a lesson in light effects.
Dutch landscapists like Jacob van Ruisdael develop a striking naturalism: a mill by the water, an avenue lined with trees. Yet, despite their realism, these paintings remain workshop recompositions.
Romanticism turns everything upside down. Caspar David Friedrich paints Beech in Snow (1829): the tree occupies the entire height of the canvas. This proliferation of vegetation creates a veil that obstructs traditional perspective depth.
Mondrian goes all the way to abstraction. In 1913, he transformed trees into compositions of horizontal and vertical lines. The tree leaves real space to become pure pictorial matter. This evolution finds a contemporary echo in modern landscape paintings which perpetuate this heritage.
How to create depth with trees
Renaissance painters use the tree as a spatial marker. Fra Angelico arranges trees increasingly larger towards the foreground, creating relays between the planes. Perugino does the opposite: he reduces the trees towards the horizon to hollow out the space.
Atmospheric perspective emerges as a major technique:
- Diminution of color intensity towards the background
- Reduction of details according to distance
- Superposition of landscape layers
- Hierarchization of scales between foreground and background
- Use of mist or diffused light
Corot perfects these processes from his first trip to Italy (1825-1828). He seeks directly in the landscape the viewpoint and framing that will compose the painting. This approach anticipates that of photographers.
Impressionists synthesize everything: 80% observation, 20% technique. Berthe Morisot summarizes their ambition: to capture "something of what passes, the least thing, a branch of a tree."
En plein air: the revolution that changes everything
Before the 19th century, the process remains standard: sketches outdoors, composition indoors. Too large canvases and difficult-to-transport paints impose this separation.
John Constable inaugurates a new three-step method: drawn sketches, oil painted sketches, definitive painting. The preserved series show how he brings the movement of the first vision into a frame conforming to academic canons.
The Barbizon school (1830-1860) carries out the decisive transition. Roelandt Savary, from the beginning of the 17th century, multiplies studies in the open air: a stump, a Chablis, uprooted roots. But it is Barbizon that systematizes the practice.
Impressionism accomplishes the final revolution. No distinct phases: artists paint directly from observation. Turner pushes the logic to the extreme: he has himself tied to the deck of a ship to experience the storm he paints.
This evolution tells a profound story: that of the Western gaze on nature. The tree goes from the medieval religious background to the romantic autonomous subject, then to modernist abstraction. It becomes the vector of a new relationship between the artist and his environment.
FAQ: Understanding the evolution of trees in painting
Why were trees so small in medieval paintings?
In the Middle Ages, painting mainly served to illustrate religious narratives. The tree had only a symbolic or decorative function, without narrative importance. The hierarchy of genres placed holy figures at the center, relegating natural elements to the background. Moreover, perspective techniques were not yet mastered, preventing a realistic representation of depth and proportions.
What is the difference between a composed landscape and a landscape painted on site?
A composed landscape is created in the studio from sketches and the painter's memory. The artist rearranges the elements according to aesthetic and compositional rules. The landscape painted on site, practiced from the 19th century onwards, is painted directly facing the subject, outdoors. This method captures the fleetingness of light and the real atmosphere, giving a spontaneity impossible to obtain in the studio.
Why is the Barbizon school so important in the history of tree painting?
The Barbizon school (1830-1860) marks the transition between Romanticism and Impressionism. More than 200 painters made thousands of tree studies directly in the Fontainebleau forest. They abandoned academic conventions to paint on site, transforming the preparatory study into a work in its own right. This technical and conceptual revolution prepared for Impressionism and made the tree a legitimate pictorial subject.
