THE ARTISTIC CONTEXT

Roger de Piles, a leading landscape specialist, distinguished two genres in landscape history: the heroic style in which nature is represented as we imagine it, and the rural style in which nature is seen in a very simple way, without make-up and artifice. It was through the Barbizon school, then in the impressionist movement that the landscape was erected as a major genre of painting. Those who will be called the "Barbizon School" - the artists Corot, Rousseau, D'Aligny, Troyon, Nanteuil, Millet, Huet gathered around Théodore Rousseau -, seek to paint "pure" landscapes and practice the study of nature in the forest of Fontainebleau. They offer their urban clientele the image of a preserved and harmonious nature, witnessing a golden age far removed from the urbanization and industry of their time.

At all times, some artists hold such a large place that around them, others disappear. In the middle of the 19th century, the illustrious names of Corot, Millet or Courbet and many others were so strong that one is tempted to forget that they were not the only ones to reflect the pictorial sensitivity of their time. Fortunately for Auguste Durst, the coherence of his work and his immoderate love for turkeys, geese and other bestiaries are emulated in many salons in which he participates. Sometimes mistreated by the salonniers, he is nevertheless very often applauded and defended by other critics. What is at stake through the latter is naturally the evolution of tastes and colors in a society and arts in full mutation.

A disciple of Millet, of Corot more than Monet, Durst is in line with the research carried out by the landscape gardeners of the Barbizon School and the 19th century animal painters. Alongside painters such as Alfred Salmon, Charles Jacques, Albert Lebourg and Jules Dupré, he established himself as the painter of the peasants and farmyards of Normandy. His painting is refreshing and luminous, thanks to the mastery of colourful ranges. More colorist than draftsman, his well-defined style is recognizable among all.

Auguste Durst's work testifies to a deep knowledge of his art and a delicate feeling of painting. For nearly 50 years, he showed the best of his mastery of his art. His works acquired during his lifetime by many institutions confirm that he is an artist appreciated and recognized in his time. His ethical manner in evoking a peaceful nature is unquestionable. And convinced that nothing in nature is useless or indifferent, he shows that everything, however small, has a particular, aesthetic and/or picturesque meaning. Throughout his career, he tried to highlight this love of nature. Apart from a few brief escapes to the regions of Provence and Gascony, he always turned to the natural beauties of Normandy.