Lot 85
  • 85

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot

Estimate
150,000 - 200,000 USD
Log in to view results
bidding is closed

Description

  • Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot
  • Madeleine en prière
  • signed COROT (lower left)
  • oil on canvas
  • 19 by 21 1/4 in.
  • 48 by 54 cm

Provenance

Jérôme Ottoz, Paris
Thence by descent

Literature

Alfred Robaut, L'oeuvre de Corot, catalogue raisonné et illustré, Paris, 1965, vol. III, p. 122, no. 1587, catalogued; illustrated p. 123

Condition

This condition report has been provided by Hamish Dewar, Hamish Dewar Ltd. Fine Art Conservation, 14 Masons Yard, Duke Street, St James's, London SW1Y 6BU. Structural Condition The canvas has been lined and this is ensuring an even and stable structural support. There is quite a marked but stable pattern of drying craquelure particularly in the lower left and upper right of the composition. Paint Surface The paint surface has an even varnish layer and inspection under ultraviolet shows how discoloured the varnish layers have become and cleaning should therefore be beneficial. A number of retouchings are visible under ultraviolet light, the most extensive being in the upper right of the composition, where there is a long diagonal line of retouching which has slightly discoloured. There are also a number of small spots in the cloth beneath the skull in the lower left of the composition. Summary The painting therefore appears to be in reasonably good and stable condition and I am sure that the amount of retouching could be significantly reduced if the painting was to be cleaned, restored and revarnished. It should also be noted that there is a marked pattern of drying craquelure.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

Landscape painting dominated Corot's earliest religious compositions. The biblical characters in Hagar in the Wilderness from the Salon of 1835 (R. 362) and Saint Jerome, which he submitted in 1837 (R. 367) play a secondary role in each painting.  This is not surprising as Corot saw himself as primarily a landscape painter, but at the same time, he was motivated to include popular and traditional narratives in his Salon paintings; religious themes, like historical and mythological subjects, were more likely to be positively received by a Salon jury.

Corot continued to paint religious subjects throughout his career, and in fact his only official commission was to execute a Baptism of Christ for the decoration of the church of Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet in Paris in 1844 (R. 466).  Ten years later, Corot painted four scenes from the Old and New Testaments for the transept of his local church in Ville d'Avray (R. 1074-1077).  The biblical figures in this cycle now assumed a greater significance and scale when compared to Hagar and Saint Jerome.  This shift had already been seen as early as 1839 in Corot's Rebecca (R. 382), where the figure, while still set in a trademark Corot landscape, became the focus of the composition. 

While not vast, Corot's repertoire of sacred themes primarily included scenes from the Old Testament, with episodes from the lives of the Saints, such as Saint Jerome and Saint Sebastian, also providing subject matter.  His choice of Mary Magdalene may have been inspired by his interest in old master paintings, or at least an earlier prototype may have been his source.  Correggio's Mary Magdalene (formerly Dresden, Gemäldegalerie, and thought to have been destroyed during WWII), shows the Saint reclining in a landscape. This painting was much admired and widely copied as early as the seventeenth century. In the eighteenth century, Pompeo Batoni painted his own version of the Magdalene, which, like the Correggio, was copied and widely disseminated through engravings.  In each work, the reclining Saint is shown with a bare décolletage, swathed in a half drapery. It is very possible that Corot saw images of the Correggio and the Batoni, but by the early 1870's, the proposed date for his Mary Magdalene, Corot's technique may be described as nothing less than "impressionistic."  Corot understood the lessons of the Old Masters, but also had the skill and imagination to process these earlier masterpieces and transform them into a style uniquely his own.

The earliest owner of Madeleine en Prière was Jérôme Ottoz. Probably best known today for the portrait Degas painted of him in the mid-1870s, Ottoz would have been a familiar face to Corot and other important painters at this time.  His shop on the Rue  La Bruyère in Paris was the leading supplier of canvases, paints and frames.