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Lot Essay
In a letter dated 29 October 2001 Martin Dieterle confirmed the attribution of the present drawing, dating it to circa 1865.
The drawing will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the graphic work by Corot prepared by Martin Dieterle, Jill Newhouse and Claire Lebeau.
It was around the early 1860s that Corot began to explore a more complex technique to attain new atmospheric effects. He first used a soft black chalk that he stumped heavily on a light brown paper. Afterwards Corot rubbed the chalk into the paper with cottonwool to attain a softer effect. He fixed the chalk, and afterward he drew again over the rubbed chalk. To translate the reflection of the light from the pond onto the shrubs he incised the chalk of the group of trees on the left with thin lines. This technique enabled him to interpret the nocturnal effects of dark shades and soft light. Other drawings of the same technique and period are illustrated in C. Bouret, Corot, le génie du trait, exhib. cat., Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, 1996, nos. 158-9 and 168-9). A cliché-verre close in composition to the present drawing is at the Bibliothèque nationale, Paris (C. Bouret, op. cit., no. 84.
A drawing of the same period was sold in these Rooms, 24 January 2001, lot 139.
The drawing will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the graphic work by Corot prepared by Martin Dieterle, Jill Newhouse and Claire Lebeau.
It was around the early 1860s that Corot began to explore a more complex technique to attain new atmospheric effects. He first used a soft black chalk that he stumped heavily on a light brown paper. Afterwards Corot rubbed the chalk into the paper with cottonwool to attain a softer effect. He fixed the chalk, and afterward he drew again over the rubbed chalk. To translate the reflection of the light from the pond onto the shrubs he incised the chalk of the group of trees on the left with thin lines. This technique enabled him to interpret the nocturnal effects of dark shades and soft light. Other drawings of the same technique and period are illustrated in C. Bouret, Corot, le génie du trait, exhib. cat., Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, 1996, nos. 158-9 and 168-9). A cliché-verre close in composition to the present drawing is at the Bibliothèque nationale, Paris (C. Bouret, op. cit., no. 84.
A drawing of the same period was sold in these Rooms, 24 January 2001, lot 139.