COROT SAID THAT HE KEPT A COPY OF ALL HIS WORKS in his eyes and in his heart. This remark sums up for us the essence of the artist's genius--his gift for seeing and for capturing the emotional quality of what he saw.
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (1795-1875) was one of the greatest artists of the nineteenth century. In the major museums of the world, people stand entranced before his silvery,poetic landscapes, his quiet, portraitlike studies of pensive women, the miraculously serene and tender renderings of nature and persons in his prints and lithographs.
COROT SAID THAT HE KEPT A COPY OF ALL HIS WORKS in his eyes and in his heart. This remark sums up for us the essence of the artist's genius--his gift for seeing and for capturing the emotional quality of what he saw.
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (1795-1875) was one of the greatest artists of the nineteenth century. In the major museums of the world, people stand entranced before his silvery,poetic landscapes, his quiet, portraitlike studies of pensive women, the miraculously serene and tender renderings of nature and persons in his prints and lithographs.
In a life totally devoted to art, Corot traveled from Paris,where he was born, to every corner of France, to Italy (three times), and even to Holland, Switzerland, and England. In all these places he produced outdoor painting that is unequaled in its blending of lyrical beauty and fidelity to the scene. But Corot's was a talent of great diversity, and he was also a master of figure painting.
The painting of the later nineteenth century and of our own time is full of Corot's influence. His supremacy in the art of rendering outdoor light was recognized by the Impressionists,and his figure paintings set a standard for Degas, Renoir, and even Picasso. And yet success in the form of recognition came late to Corot. He was twenty-six when he embarked on the study of art, and he was in his fifties when his greatness was widely acknowledged.
Through good times and hard, Corot continued to paint;he welcomed success when it came only because it enabled him to be even more generous to less fortunate friends and colleagues.
In this volume, a noted French art historian--aided by 92 magnificent illustrations, 40 in full color--tells the story of Corot's life and of the development of his art. Madeleine Hours, as Conservateur en Chef at the Louvre, in Paris, where many of Corot's works are on view, brings to her subject exceptional knowledge and insight.
JEAN-BAPTISTE-CAMILLE COROT by Madeleine Hours
COLORPLATES
YOUNG GIRL WITH BERET Musee des Beaux-Arts, Lille
THE FORUM SEEN FROM THE FARNESE GARDENS The Louvre, Paris
LE PONT DE NARNI National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
CHARTRES CATHEDRAL The Louvre, Paris. Collection Moreau-Nelaton
MLLE ALEXINA LEDOUX The Louvre, Paris
LA CERVARA Kunsthaus, Zurich
THE PONT-AU-CHAND THE PALAIS DE JUSTICE Private collection, New York
view OF GENOA FROM THE PROMENADE OF ACQUA SOLA The Art Institute of Chicago
SELF-PORTRAIT WITH PALETTE Uffizi, Florence
HAGAR IN THE WILDERNESS The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Rogers Fund, z938
CHATEAU DE ROSNY The Louvre, Paris
LA MARIETTA Musee du Petit Palais, Paris
GARDENS OF THE VILLA D'ESTE AT TIVOLI The Louvre, Paris
BELL-TOWER OF THE CHURCH OF SAINT-PATERNE AT ORLEANS Musee des Beaux-Arts, Strasbourg
HOMER AND THE SHEPHERDS Musee Municipal, Saint-L6
PORTRAIT OF MME CHARMOIS The Louvre, Paris
FOREST OF FONTAINEBLEAU Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Gift of Mrs. Samuel Dennis Warren
THE FAIR MAID OF GASCONY (LA BELLE GASCONNE) Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Mass.
MORNING: DANCE OF THE NYMPHS The Louvre, Paris
THE PORT OF LA ROCHELLE Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven
SAINT SEBASTIAN The Louvre, Paris
MUR (COTES-DU-NORD) John G. Johnson Collection, Philadelphia
RECLINING NYMPH Musee d'Art et d'Histoire, Geneva
THE MOTHER SUPERIOR OF THE CONVENT OF THE ANNONCIADES The Louvre, Paris
MAURICE ROBERT AS A CHILD The Louvre, Paris
THE QUAI DES PAQUIS IN GENEVA Musee d'Art et d'Histoire, Geneva
MOTHER AND CHILD ON THE BEACH John G. Johnson Collection, Philadelphia
RECOLLECTION OF MORTEFONTAINE The Louvre, Paris
THE BOATMAN OF MORTEFONTAINE Copyright the Frick Collection, New York
THE STUDIO: YOUNG WOMAN WITH A MANDOLIN The Louvre, Paris
WINDSWEPT LANDSCAPE Musee des Beaux-Arts, Reims
AGOSTINA The National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Chester Dale Collection
THE CHURCH OF MARISSEL The Louvre, Paris
view OF MANTES Musee des Beaux-Arts, Reims
WOMAN WITH A PEARL The Louvre, Paris
THE BELFRY OF DOUAI The Louvre, Paris
MLLE DE FOUDRAS Glasgow Art Gallery and Museum
YOUNG ALGERIAN WOMAN LYING ON THE GRASS Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
POND AT VILLE-D'AVRAY WITH LEANING TREE Musee des Beaux-Arts, Reims
INTERIOR OF SENS CATHEDRAL The Louvre, Paris
LADY IN BLUE The Louvre, Paris