.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
The present work is one of only a few souvenir paintings by Corot inspired by The Netherlands. Corot had visited the area during his trip in the summer of 1854, traveling alongside his friend Alfred Dutilleux. The pair traveled to Scheveningen on September 1st of that year and captured the beach and surrounding areas at three different moments of the day. These plein-air pictures are recorded in Robaut as numbers 734, 735, and 736. The present work bears the strongest resemblance to no. 736, depicting the wooded dunes near the beach.
Corot's souvenir paintings, sometimes called his 'winter paintings' were primarily executed in the 1860s and 70s. Often started as a plein-air sketch on site or inspired by his plein-air pictures he had brought back to the studio, these paintings were either finished or reworked entirely by Corot during the months in which he could not paint outside as readily. They were intended to capture the remembrance of a particular place, which the artist then distilled into a ‘pure landscape’ inspired by his memories of the visit. The specific details of the place were not the concern in these works - Corot instead aimed to render the essence of the landscape by depicting his impression of the place in a single poetic whole. Following neither the model of Rousseau's naturalistic style nor Courbet's Realist landscapes, Corot preferred painting nature in a way which encouraged bucolic reverie.
The work has an interesting provenance, having come to the U.S. not long after it was originally painted. Its first U.S.-based owner, William Buchanan, had his collection dispersed in a sale at the Plaza on 18 April 1912 following his death the year prior. However, this sale had the misfortune of being held on the same night the RMS Carpathia arrived in New York with the survivors rescued after the sinking of the Titanic. Press reports at the time noted much lower prices than expected in the sale, given the intense interest in the Carpathia's arrival that evening.
Corot's souvenir paintings, sometimes called his 'winter paintings' were primarily executed in the 1860s and 70s. Often started as a plein-air sketch on site or inspired by his plein-air pictures he had brought back to the studio, these paintings were either finished or reworked entirely by Corot during the months in which he could not paint outside as readily. They were intended to capture the remembrance of a particular place, which the artist then distilled into a ‘pure landscape’ inspired by his memories of the visit. The specific details of the place were not the concern in these works - Corot instead aimed to render the essence of the landscape by depicting his impression of the place in a single poetic whole. Following neither the model of Rousseau's naturalistic style nor Courbet's Realist landscapes, Corot preferred painting nature in a way which encouraged bucolic reverie.
The work has an interesting provenance, having come to the U.S. not long after it was originally painted. Its first U.S.-based owner, William Buchanan, had his collection dispersed in a sale at the Plaza on 18 April 1912 following his death the year prior. However, this sale had the misfortune of being held on the same night the RMS Carpathia arrived in New York with the survivors rescued after the sinking of the Titanic. Press reports at the time noted much lower prices than expected in the sale, given the intense interest in the Carpathia's arrival that evening.