Trees (recto); Soldiers in a Wood (verso) 1830 - 1864

Alexandre Calame made this drawing called "Trees" using pen and brown ink with gray wash over graphite. Notice how Calame’s composition guides your eye through the landscape. The tonal range, from light sky to dark foreground shrubbery, creates depth. Calame uses wash to model the forms of the trees, giving them volume, but also to create an atmospheric perspective. The stark contrast between the trees and the sky creates drama, reflecting the Romantic movement’s interest in the power and sublimity of nature. The sketch-like quality of the work suggests an interest in capturing an immediate experience, yet it also reveals a preoccupation with formal structure. The trees are not just representations of nature, they also serve as structural elements that define space and form. This interplay between representation and formal structure invites us to consider how the artwork destabilizes the traditional categories of landscape art, moving towards a modern understanding of form and space.