Près de Moulin, Chierry, Aisne

Prés de Moulin, Chierry, Aisne was painted in 1855-65, a pivotal period in Corot's career. The Exposition Universelle of 1855 had marked a high point. As M. Pantazzi pointed out: 'In 1855, Corot's poetic sense and his pervasive taste for abstraction were universally remarked. In Edmond About's words, typical of those used to describe Corot's later paintings, the creative process assumes an almost mystical dimension: "No artist has more style or can better communicate his ideas in a landscape. He transforms everything he touches, he appropriates everything he paints, he never copies, and, even when he works directly from nature, he invents. As they pass through his imagination, objects take on a vague and delightful form. Colors soften and melt; everything becomes fresh, young, harmonious: he is the poet of landscape..."' (Voyage à travers l'Exposition des Beaux Arts (Peinture et Sculpture), Paris, 1855, p. 217-18; quoted in Corot, New York, 1996, p. 236).