Louis-Auguste Lapito Joinville-le-Pont 1803 - 1874 Boulogne-sur-Seine

In this bright and vibrant view of Bastia on the island of Corsica, Lapito captures the mediterranean charm of this now popular holiday destination.  Corsica belonged to the Republic of Genoa until 1768, when it was sold to the French.  The language spoken remained Italian until the end of the 19th century. It was best known as the island where Napoleon was born and it is possibly for this reason that it was not a common destination for the French to travel to in the 19th century. Lapito, however, found its landscapes a delight to paint and frequented the island on several occassions.

This beautifully executed oil sketch, owes much to Corot's early plein air sketches from the late 1820s. Lapito was a close friend of Corot's, and they travelled to Italy together in 1826, Corot’s first Italian journey.  It was in 1827 that Lapito visited Corsica for the first time and most likely painted this scene.  Lapito's loose, free brushstrokes, and warm atmospheric light are clearly adopted from his time traveling with Corot.  The scene we see here served as a modello for Lapito's larger canvas View of Bastia, now in the Musée de Bastia, Corsica.  It was common practice amongst artist's of this period to paint a sketch on sight and then use it in the studio as a guide for a larger commission. Lapito died in Paris in 1883, and his wife sold what was left in his studio at the Hôtel Drouot on  June 2, 1883.  The first of the auction was the present lot Vue de Bastia (Corse).