Théodore Rousseau

1831-35 – Paris Salon debut in 1831; regular acceptance through 1835

1834 – receives Salon’s third-class medal for Edge of a Clearing, Forest of Compiegne (private collection)

1836-41 – every submission to the Salon rejected by antagonistic juror Jean-Joseph-Xavier Bidauld; Rousseau becomes known as ‘le grand refusé’; exclusion of Rousseau and Delacroix from Salon provokes criticism from Gustave Planche, the Goncourts, and L’Artiste

1842-48 – Rousseau abstains from Salon

1848 – receives French governmentl commission for Edge of the Forest of Fontainebleau, Sunset

1849 – receives Salon’s first-class medal for Avenue of Trees, Forest of l’Isle-Adam, thereby no longer required to submit his work to Salon jury

1852 – receives Cross of the Legion of Honor

1855 –room at Exposition universelle (Paris) devoted to Rousseau

1865 – meetings with Napoleon III resulting in conservation policy protecting Fontainebleau Forest

1867 – elected president of Exposition universelle jury; receives grand medal of honor; initially denied but later receives title of Officer of the Legion of Honor

Travels  

regular visits to the Forest of Fontainebleau and to Barbizon