Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot was born in Paris on 16th July 1796 to relatively prosperous parents and he enjoyed a certain financial independence from the beginning of his career as a painter. His early tuition was in the neo-classical tradition, as championed by Pierre-Henri de Valenciennes (1750-1819) and Corot also studied under Achille-Etna Michallon and Jean Victor Bertin. In 1825, continuing the tradition of 16th century veduta painters, Corot travelled to Italy and in particular to Rome and the surrounding campagna. He remained there for almost three years, the ancient capital and its spectacular vistas providing a vast source of inspiration for his landscapes. The clear Mediterranean colours of these early works gave way to a darker palette on Corot's return to France where he continued to travel widely on painting expeditions. The public face presented by Corot during his lifetimes was that of a fairly traditional painter of historical landscapes, given a narrative interest by the inclusion of figures. His traditional subject matter notwithstanding, Corot was celebrated for his evenness of tone and lightness of palette-obtained by the admixture of white with all his pigments-as well as his broad simplification of handling. Corot is now acknowledged as one of the major influences on modern landscape painting and he enjoyed much recognition and prosperity in his later years.

Reference: Images and Insights Exh. Cat. (Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, Dublin 1993), 190.