Hippolyte Boulenger – Nymphs in the Forest, c. 1869

by Atelier Liesjes

In a clearing in a dark forest, four naked women stand in a circle. They are holding each other’s hands or arms and appear to be dancing; their heads are turned towards one another, their bodies gleaming pale against the brown and green of the foliage. The figures are painted with loose, swift brushstrokes – no detailed anatomy, no portraits, but movements of light and flesh. The forest closes in around them: dense, tangled canopies, a few slender trunks, a strip of moss-green grass beneath their feet and a single ray of light filtering through the leaves. The scene is classical in subject and romantic in atmosphere: nymphs dancing in a forest are part of the nineteenth-century Arcadian dream, in which nature is populated by mythological creatures. Boulenger, who is best known for his realistic landscapes, painted this subject in a loose and almost Impressionist style, as if he wished to capture the fleeting moment rather than create a finished image. The paint is thin, the brushstrokes are visible, and the edges of the figures almost blend into their surroundings. The colours are warm and muted: cream-pink, ochre, dark brown, olive green and moss green, with the occasional touch of pearly white. The style is classicist-romantic, akin to Corot’s nudes and the Arcadian landscapes of the Barbizon School. The themes are mythology, dance and the free body in nature; the mood evoked by the work is one of sensuality, mystery and a touch of melancholy.
Hippolyte Boulenger (Tournai 1837 – Brussels 1874) was a Belgian landscape painter associated with Pre-Impressionist Realism and the leading figure of the School of Tervuren. The date in the file name (1769) cannot correspond to his lifetime; the work probably dates from around 1869.
A rare, sensual work within the oeuvre of a landscape painter – ideal for a classical or eclectic interior.