Lot Essay
Jean Baptiste Faure (1830-1914), the first owner of this work, was a celebrated baritone at the Paris Opera. From circa 1861, following Durand-Ruel's advice, he amassed a distinguished collection of works by Delacroix, Corot and the Barbizon school. In 1873 the collection underwent a radical change in direction as he started to collect pictures by Monet, Degas and the Impressionists. He sold his Corot and Barbizon pictures in two auctions in 1873 and 1878.