In this chalk drawing, Dupré records a dramatic scene of a large fallen tree, either cut down by human hands or uprooted by the force of a violent storm. Sensitive to shifting light effects, he recreates the gentle movement of silky clouds across the sky, adding a sense of delicacy to the composition.

from Weisberg, Breaking the Mold: The Legacy of the Noah L. and Muriel S. Butkin Collection of Nineteenth-Century French Art (Notre Dame, 2012)