裘勒‧杜培（Jules Dupré,1811-1889）是十九世紀法國巴比松畫派裡重要的風景畫家之一。由於其父從事瓷器製作，所以杜培早年多協助父親進行瓷盤的裝飾工作，僅在閒暇之餘外出寫生。然而，對繪畫情有獨鍾的杜培仍選擇成為畫家，並因其極高的藝術造詣在1833年的沙龍展中展露頭角。同年杜培受邀前往英國時，尤其對康斯塔伯（John Constable, 1776-1837）風景畫中瞬息萬變的天空雲彩景觀印象深刻，開始旅居英法各地保有純樸景觀的鄉村學習捕捉自然風景各個瞬間的景色，進而影響日後巴比松畫派風景畫的特色。

杜培最喜愛描繪日落、多雲天空和海景，並擅長運用凌亂交錯的筆觸與強烈的色彩表現光影和雲彩多變的戲劇效果，此作即為典型例子之一。畫中描繪法國北方諾曼第的農舍，暗褐色鄉間小路帶出了兩旁的小屋和高聳的林木，同時引導出遠方大片寬廣的天空。杜培僅以簡略的暗褐色與暗綠色筆觸刷出小屋、道路與樹葉，而著重在刻劃幻化多變的天空景象。畫家以其擅長的狂亂有力筆觸堆疊出由淺灰和暗綠色交織出的昏暗烏雲，自烏雲下浮現的淺藍天空和略帶淺紅褐色系的雲朵則彷彿透露著多雨的陰霾即將遠去，以及日落時分的雲彩。此外，畫面下方閃著波光且暗示著大雨過後的水灘也正與逐漸撥雲見日的天空相呼應。(徐鈺涵)

Jules Dupré (1811-1889) was a French landscape painter and one of the chief members of the Barbizon school. Because his father produced porcelains, Dupré assisted his father to decorate the porcelain plates when he was young and only created still life paintings in his spare time. However, having a special liking for painting, Dupré still chose to be a painter, and was laterrecognized in the Salon in 1833 for his great artistic achievements. In the same year, while traveling in England, he was particularly impressed by the changing color of the clouds depicted by John Constable (1776-1837).Dupré then traveled from town to town in areas with traditional rural landscapes in both England and France, during which time he studied how to capture moments in nature. These experiences influenced his later choice of subject in the Barbizon school.

Dupré preferred depicting sunsets, cloudy skies, and seascapes, and was particularly adept at making use of turbulent and intertwining strokes and powerful expressions of color to illustrate the dramatic effects created by the interplay of changing light and dynamic clouds. This painting is a classic example of this tendency. The painting depicts a cottage in Normandy, an area in northern France. The dark brown country trail extending from the foreground to the rear introduces the cottage on both sides and the towering trees. In the meantime, it also incorporates the vast sky from afar. Dupré utilizes simple dark brown and dark green brushstrokes on the canvas to show vague cottages, trails, trees, and leaves. In comparison, he emphasizes his depiction of the changing sky after a storm at dusk. His violent and powerful long strokes form layers of dark clouds overlapped by light gray and dark green hues. The light blue sky and reddish clouds through the dark clouds seem to suggest that the storm is on the verge of clearing up. In addition, the glistening light of water after the heavy rainfall on the lower part of the painting also echoes with the sky that dispels the clouds and sees the sun. Under the careful arrangement of Dupré, the painting fully demonstrates the plain rural landscape in the country and serves as the prelude to the topic and feature of the typical Barbizon school. (Yu Han HSU)