COROT, Jean Baptiste, Souvenir de Toscane (Remembrance of Tuscany)
After an apprenticeship of five years in a drapery business, Corot studied painting from 1822 to 1825, first under the painter Michallon, then unde… [Read biography »]
Signed Jean Baptiste Corot (1796 - 1875), Etching, Souvenir de Toscane (Remembrance of Tuscany)  |
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| Artist: | Corot, Jean Baptiste (1796 - 1875) |
|---|---|
| Title: | Souvenir de Toscane (Remembrance of Tuscany) |
| Medium: | Etching |
| Image Size: | 4 3/4 in x 7 in (12.1 x 17.8 cm) |
| Sheet Size: | 8.75 in x 15 in (22.2 cm x 38.1 cm) |
| Framed Size: | 15 in x 17 in (38.1 x 43.1 cm) |
| Signed: | Identifying information is engraved along the lower margin of the plate |
| Edition: | of 750, 4th State |
| Condition: | Excellent |
| Price: Item# 873 | $SOLD Please visit the rest of our COROT inventory » |
| Description: | |
Dramatic tonal variations characterize this romanticized view of the Tuscan landscape. Depicting the seductive quiet of a provincial lifestyle; Corot entices the viewer along an intimate path, inundating the senses with imagined sensory stimulus. Originally executed in 1845, this is an example of the fourth state of this image. The work was printed by Salmon, Paris and published by the Gazette des Beaux-Arts in 1875. Reportedly the plate was discovered by the engraver Felix Bracquemond in a box of nails and was first printed in 1865. The artist’s extensive working of the plate creates an image that is both quieting and energetic. Using varied techniques throughout the image, Corot creates an impressive textural quality which varies from the gnarled tree bark to the rounded forms of the rock outcropping seen along the right of the image. As the viewer progresses through the image, passing a praying monk along the right, one is lulled by the delicately layered landscaped. Passing through shadows and concealing brush, the viewer is ultimately confronted by a picturesque domed structure seen along the horizon. Of his process Corot once stated, “after my outings I invite Nature to come spend several days with me; that is when my madness begins. Brush in hand, I look for hazelnuts among the trees in my studio; I hear birds singing there, trees trembling in the wind; I see rushing streams and rivers laden with a thousand reflections of sky and earth; the sun sets and rises in my studio.” Catalogue Raisonné & COA: 1) Robaut, Alfred. L’ouevre de Corot Tome Quatrieme. 1905, listed as number 3123. 2) Melot, Michel, Graphic Art of the Pre-Impressionists, 1980, listed as plate C. 1, image on page 35, discussion on pages 257-258. 3) Roger-Marx, Claude, Graphic Art of the 19th Century, 1962, listed on pg 95. About the Framing: | |
| Style: | 19th Century |
Biography of Jean Baptiste Corot
Jean Baptiste Corot (1796 - 1875)
After an apprenticeship of five years in a drapery business, Corot studied painting from 1822 to 1825, first under the painter Michallon, then under the Classical landscape painter Victor Bertin, and copying works by Joseph Verner and others, including the 17th century Dutch masters. Convinced that "man can only be an artist when he has recognized in himself a strong passion for nature", he painted, or mostly sketched, outdoors, working in the forest of Fontainebleau, at Dieppe, Le Havre, Rouen and at Ville d' Avray where his father owned a house. His first visit to Rome from 1825 to 1828, which was to become decisive in his artistic development, produced a number of oil-studies painted from nature, views of historical Roman monuments and the scenery surrounding Rome. They are of an unusual freshness, catching the light and atmosphere of different times of the day with delightfully subtle variations in tonal values. The actual paintings based on these studies, for example, the "View of Narni" (Ottawa, National Gallery of Canada, 1826), painted for the 1827 Paris Salon, are in comparison rather formal, in the manner of the New Classicism. On his return from Italy, Corot worked in various parts of France. He also visited Italy again (in 1834 and 1843), and went to Holland (1854) and England (1862). His friendship in the late 1840s with the Barbizon painters Rosseau, Millet, Troyon and Dupre greatly influenced his art. Around this time he changed his style; his romantic-lyrical landscapes ("Paysages in times") interpret nature in her various moods, and in the most delicate dull silver tones. His landscapes had an inspiring influence on the Impressionists, who wished to include him in their first Exhibition.
After an apprenticeship of five years in a drapery business, Corot studied painting from 1822 to 1825, first under the painter Michallon, then under the Classical landscape painter Victor Bertin, and copying works by Joseph Verner and others, including the 17th century Dutch masters. Convinced that "man can only be an artist when he has recognized in himself a strong passion for nature", he painted, or mostly sketched, outdoors, working in the forest of Fontainebleau, at Dieppe, Le Havre, Rouen and at Ville d' Avray where his father owned a house. His first visit to Rome from 1825 to 1828, which was to become decisive in his artistic development, produced a number of oil-studies painted from nature, views of historical Roman monuments and the scenery surrounding Rome. They are of an unusual freshness, catching the light and atmosphere of different times of the day with delightfully subtle variations in tonal values. The actual paintings based on these studies, for example, the "View of Narni" (Ottawa, National Gallery of Canada, 1826), painted for the 1827 Paris Salon, are in comparison rather formal, in the manner of the New Classicism.
On his return from Italy, Corot worked in various parts of France. He also visited Italy again (in 1834 and 1843), and went to Holland (1854) and England (1862). His friendship in the late 1840s with the Barbizon painters Rosseau, Millet, Troyon and Dupre greatly influenced his art. Around this time he changed his style; his romantic-lyrical landscapes ("Paysages in times") interpret nature in her various moods, and in the most delicate dull silver tones. His landscapes had an inspiring influence on the Impressionists, who wished to include him in their first Exhibition.
