- 83
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot
Description
- Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot
- L'étoile du berger (The Evening Star)
oil on canvas
- 30 1/8 by 38 1/8 in.
- 76.5 by 97 cm
Condition
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."
Catalogue Note
L'etoile du berger (The Evening Star) was one of Corot's most important and popular paintings, and one that has been surrounded by both fact and folklore (see G. Tinterow, M. Pantazzi and V. Pomarède, Corot, exh. cat., New York, 1996, pp. 298-300). One of Corot's biographers, Daniel Baud-Bovy speculated that Corot painted The Evening Star in 1864 after hearing a song based on a poem by Alfred de Musset (D. Baud-Bovy, Corot, Geneva, 1957, pp. 190, 192-193). Two known versions of the painting exist; the primary work that is in the Musée des Augustins in Toulouse (Fig. 1), and a smaller replica that was commissioned by the American art agent, George A. Lucas for his important client, William Walters of Baltimore on February 8, 1864 (L. Randall, ed., The Diary of George A. Lucas, Princeton, 1979, vol. II, p. 171). Now, the appearance of the present work adds a new and interesting chapter to the evolution of this popular painting, the one that as Moreau-Nélaton reported "inspired lust in his [William Walters'] heart" (E. Moreau-Nélaton, Corot: Raconté par lui-même, Paris, 1924, vol. 2, p. 16). Martin Dieterle feels that this newly discovered version of The Evening Star is Corot's first idea for the painting. Like most preliminary compositions, there is more spontaneity and freedom of brushwork, combined with a quality of execution that can only be that of Corot.