BARBIZON, The Painters of, a group of French painters of animal, landscape and peasant subjects who settled in the village of Barbizon about 1844. While often referred to as the Barbizon school, they did not form a school in the usual sense, but were attracted together by similar aims and principles. These principles may be reduced to the one that each painting be studied directly from nature and express a mood or sentiment of the artist. The result was a grasp on truth and life with a poetic character that gave their work per manency and charm. They are of the Romantic school as applied to the landscape. The dis tinctive note of the school appears in the work of Rousseau and Millet, each of whom made his home in Barbizon. Corot, Diaz, Dupre, Daubigny and Troyon were members of the group. (See articles on these artists). Recog nition of their merit came slowly as a result of the conflicts that existed between the classic and romantic schools in the first half of the 19th century. The painters of Barbizon are
among the most important in the history of landscape painting, into which they infused new life; their influence was tremendous not only in Europe hut in America. They are well represented in American galleries, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Vander bilt collection, New York, and the Shaw col lection of Boston. Consult La Farge, 'The Higher Life in Art> (New York 1908); Mollet, 'Painters of Barbizon' (London 1895); Muther, 'History of Modern Painting> (Lon don 1907); Tomson, Arthur, 'Painters of Barbizon' (ib. 1908); Thompson, D. C., 'Painters of Barbizon' (ib. 1902); Van Dyke, 'Modern French Masters' (New York 1906).