Memory of Barbizon, May 6, 1985

About the Work

Tübke’s titles add further levels of association to his compositions. He may have visited Barbizon, the commune near the Forest of Fontainebleau outside of Paris. Or he might have wanted to allude to the so-called School of Barbizon, an early avant-garde that moved to the countryside in the mid-nineteenth century to paint in the outdoors. Three city dwellers are depicted at the left, three country folk at the right: Almost like actors on a stage, they have gathered at a table and gaze out attentively as if they had something they wanted to tell us.