Un torrent dans des Romagnes

After the profound shock of France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian war of 1871, and of the atrocities committed in the name of the Paris Commune, the critic Jules Castagnary, amongst others, sought comfort in the works of the French Barbizon landscape painters shown at the 1872 Salon. "Landscape remains the strength and glory of our French school. Although the jury went through it like a plow through a green field, there are still enough beautiful examples to prove to foreigners that we have not degenerated, at least not in this area... We won't say more than a word on Daubigny, Corot, or Chintreuil: these masters are on a par with their long-standing reputation" (quoted in Corot, ex. cat., New York, 1996, p. 348).

This work has been examined and authenticated by Martin Dieterle.