Village of Barbizon

Barbizon is the birthplace of the school of painting of the same name. You will walk in the Grande rue and its small adjacent streets lined by artists’ residences and sites of creation.

In former times, Barbizon was a simple woodcutters' hamlet.
The arrival of Camille Corot, Theodore Rousseau, Jean-François Millet and Diaz de la Peña, was destined to make it famous and today, Barbizon is one of the mythical places of the pre-impressionist period in France.

From 1830 to 1870, the artists stayed in Mr and Mrs Ganne’s inn. Easel under the arm, they abandoned their studios preferring the countryside and the Fontainebleau forest.  They loved everything here : the play of light in the undergrowth, the dark colors of the high trees, the ponds, the stormy clouds, the daily or seasonal changes of nature.                                                        
Today, Barbizon has kept its country charm with the souvenir of these painters who stayed here to paint nature.