Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot

Sold by Corot to M. Détrimont, in 1872;

Collection Paul David;

Collection of the Colonel Bertin-Mourot (until at least 28 June 1936);

Collection Paul Jamot;

His sale, M^e Ader, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, 10 February 1943, lot 45;

Private Collection, Paris;

With Alfred Daber, Paris.

Paris, Galerie Rosenberg, Corot, Paysages de France et figures, June-July 1930, no. 39;

Musée de Lyon, Corot, May-June 1936, no. 73;

Paris, Galerie Charpentier, Le Paysage Français de Corot à nos jours, 1942, no. 31 (titled Le Mont-Valérien);

Paris, Galerie Alfred Daber, Paysages de Corot à Bonnard, May 1965, no. 4;

Edinburg, The Arts Council of Great Britain, Corot, 1965, no. 82.

A. Robaut, L'Œuvre de Corot, Catalogue raisonné et illustré, Paris 1905, tome III, pp. 68-69, no. 1452, repr. (as unsigned and with dimensions 43 x 56 cm).

Dated to the years 1860–1865, this painting was produced at a time when Corot was mainly working in his studio from sketches he had accumulated on his various trips to Italy, as well as Brittany, Normandy and the Paris surroundings, including in the vicinity of Mont Valérien, as we see here. This composition was perhaps inspired by one of his earlier works now in the Leeds Art Gallery (inv. 1953.13.0269), showing Mont Valérien from the Meudon forest.

The view is wider in the present composition, allowing the artist to show the Sun’s reflections playing on the Seine, winding below. Perched on the summit of Mont Valérien, the silhouette of the Mont-Valérien fortress, built between 1840 and 1846, stands out against the sky. In the foreground, a young woman watches over a few cows; rendered with a rapid brushstroke, her figure blends into the landscape, the real subject of the painting. The composition is closed on the right by birch trees. As is often the case with Corot, the sky and clouds dominate, bathing the view in a soft light and giving the scene a peaceful atmosphere. The vibrant, rapid brushstroke and the shades of green are also typical of Corot, making it possible to identify the author at first glance.