Private Guided Tour of Barbizon, the Village of Painters
Crédit photos de Aurélie Zeissolff
On the edge of the Fontainebleau Forest, Barbizon is far more than a charming village — it
is one of the founding places of modern landscape painting and 19th-century art history.
Now internationally renowned, this peaceful village in the Brie region was once a modest
hamlet inhabited by stone workers and woodcutters. Yet in the middle of the 19th century, it
became the gathering place of a generation of young artists searching for a new way of
painting, living and observing nature.
This private guided tour invites you to rediscover the golden age of Barbizon through artistic
history, literary atmosphere and picturesque village walks.
The birth of the Barbizon School
Beginning in the 1820s, Barbizon attracted young painters eager to escape the rigid
academic rules imposed by the official Salons.
Inspired by English landscape painters such as Constable, Bonington and Turner, these
artists chose to paint directly from nature in the forest and surrounding countryside. At a time
when landscape painting was still considered secondary to historical or religious painting,
they helped elevate it into a major artistic genre.
The village gradually became an open-air artistic laboratory.
Jean-François Millet, Théodore Rousseau, Narcisse Diaz de la Peña, Charles-François
Daubigny and Jean-Baptiste Corot all stayed in Barbizon and contributed to a movement
that would deeply influence the future Impressionists.
The Auberge Ganne: the living heart of the artists’ village
Barbizon’s success also owes much to the Auberge Ganne, founded in the 1820s by local
innkeepers who welcomed visiting artists.
This now legendary inn became a place of freedom, creativity and artistic exchange. In a
lively and passionate atmosphere, painters gathered there to debate art, sing, drink and
reinvent the future of painting.
Over time, the walls and furniture of the inn were covered with sketches, painted studies and
artistic traces left by the painters themselves. When the inn was transformed into a museum
in the 20th century, many of these hidden works were rediscovered beneath layers of
wallpaper.
Today, the Museum of the Barbizon School preserves the extraordinary memory of this
artistic adventure.
A walk through art, nature and memory
This private guided tour explores:
- the history of the village of Barbizon,
- the places frequented by 19th-century painters,
- the Auberge Ganne and the Barbizon School,
- the relationship between Barbizon and the Fontainebleau Forest,
- the birth of modern landscape painting.
Throughout the walk, artists’ anecdotes, historical stories and evocations of artistic Paris in
the 19th century bring back the unique atmosphere that made Barbizon a legendary place in
the history of art.
Practical information
- Private tours upon reservation
- Tours available in French, English, Russian and Armenian
Meeting point:
In front of the Barbizon Tourist Office
Place Marc Jacquet
77630 Barbizon
Bookings
To check my availability and make a reservation, please email me at
reservation@visite-guidee.com
