Lot Essay
'This is not a landscape painter, this is the very poet of the landscape, who breathes the sadnesses and joys of nature. The bond, the great bond that makes us the brothers of rooks and trees, he sees it; his figures, as poetic as his forests, are not strangers to the woodland that surrounds them. He knows more than anyone, he has discovered all the customs of boughs and leaves; and now that he is sure he will not distort their inner life, he can dispense with all servile imitation' (T. de Banville, 'Le Salon de 1861', Revue fantaisiste 2, 1 July 1861, pp. 235 - 36).
Ville d'Avray, some ten miles from Paris, was to provide Corot with an important subject for his paintings throughout his career. Corot's father bought a country home in Ville d'Avray in 1817, where Corot occupied a small room on the third floor overlooking the lake. Corot never tired of painting this place which had meant so much to him as a youth. He was to record trees, ponds and rivers around Ville d'Avray up until the last months of his life. Even though he often travelled to other villages to paint and sketch, he created an impressive body in the rural location.
Corot's landscapes beginning in 1850 start to take on a silvery feather-like quality, a trait that would characterize his subsequent paintings. Whilst figures, relaxed in their activity, are present in the foreground of this painting, it is the authentic landscape itself which seizes the our attention. The subdued, ochre sunlight seeks slowly forth through the delicate tree trunks and glimmers on the reflective water.
Fame came to Corot during the mid-1860s, when his annual contributions of landscapes to the Salon met with wide acclaim from both critics and the public alike. He showed seven important paintings at the Exposition universelle of 1867 in Paris for which he received a medal and the title of Officier de la Légion d'Honneur. The Parisian dealer Alphonse Cadart had also included ten Corot paintings in a group exhibition of French painting which he organized and sent to America the year before. This exhibition was to play an integral role in introducing Corot’s work to audiences in New York, Boston and Philadelphia. Collectors clamoured at Corot's door in response and the artist was hard pressed to meet the increased demand for his landscapes.
Ville d'Avray, some ten miles from Paris, was to provide Corot with an important subject for his paintings throughout his career. Corot's father bought a country home in Ville d'Avray in 1817, where Corot occupied a small room on the third floor overlooking the lake. Corot never tired of painting this place which had meant so much to him as a youth. He was to record trees, ponds and rivers around Ville d'Avray up until the last months of his life. Even though he often travelled to other villages to paint and sketch, he created an impressive body in the rural location.
Corot's landscapes beginning in 1850 start to take on a silvery feather-like quality, a trait that would characterize his subsequent paintings. Whilst figures, relaxed in their activity, are present in the foreground of this painting, it is the authentic landscape itself which seizes the our attention. The subdued, ochre sunlight seeks slowly forth through the delicate tree trunks and glimmers on the reflective water.
Fame came to Corot during the mid-1860s, when his annual contributions of landscapes to the Salon met with wide acclaim from both critics and the public alike. He showed seven important paintings at the Exposition universelle of 1867 in Paris for which he received a medal and the title of Officier de la Légion d'Honneur. The Parisian dealer Alphonse Cadart had also included ten Corot paintings in a group exhibition of French painting which he organized and sent to America the year before. This exhibition was to play an integral role in introducing Corot’s work to audiences in New York, Boston and Philadelphia. Collectors clamoured at Corot's door in response and the artist was hard pressed to meet the increased demand for his landscapes.