Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot

The following condition report was kindly provided by Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.: This painting has never been removed from its original stretcher, which is very unusual for a picture of this period. The paint layer has been cleaned, varnished and retouched. In the sky there are a few tiny dots in the upper center of the sky. In the trees on the right side there appear to be no retouches visible under ultraviolet light although there is an uneven appearance to this area because of remnants of old varnish. In the reflection of the rock in the pond to the right of the tree there are dark areas, yet these do not appear to be retouches and are also areas of uneven varnish. The same can be said for the standing figure and the tree trunk behind her. In the lower left corner there are some broad strokes visible under ultraviolet light which may possibly be retouching. To the naked eye the rocks beneath the three on the far right side are quite thin and this may be a slightly over cleaned area; the same could be said for the far bank of the lake. Overall however we are comfortable with the condition although I would encourage a little retouching to address some of the thinness which would perhaps bring the picture into a slightly more cohesive plain.
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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.