Lot 164
  • 164

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot

Estimate
50,000 - 70,000 GBP
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Description

  • Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot
  • le parc de la villa Doria-Pamphili, Rome
  • signed COROT lower right
  • oil on canvas
  • 28.3 by 41.3cm., 11¼ by 16¼in.

Provenance

Lemaistre Collection, France (sale: December 1901)
Purchased by the uncle of the present owner in the 1950s

Literature

Alfred Robaut, L'Oeuvre de Corot, vol. II, Paris, 1905, p. 160, no. 449, catalogued; p. 161, no. 449, illustrated by Robaut

Condition

The canvas has been re-lined. The painting has a thick and uneven varnish, and while there appears to be no apparent retouching, this might be due to the varnish. There are scattered fine lines of stable craquelure throughout, notably in the darker pigments. Please note that the catalogue illustration is not a fair representation of the painting. The colours are much deeper and the craquelure less evident under normal lighting conditions. Please refer to the department for a more accurate photograph, or to the online catalogue.
"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

In 1843, the year of the present work, after an interval of fifteen years, Corot at last returned to Rome. The subjects he chose on this third and final trip to Italy were no longer so much revered talismans of the classical past as they had been for him in the 1820s; rather, they were attractive motifs along the route of an artist who had travelled a great deal and would travel a good deal more. While a study of the Arch of Constantine honors Roman grandeur, Corot gave more attention to the Renaissance villas which he had not painted in his youth. Compositionally and in terms of its palette, too, the present work shows how his style has moved on. If Italy had provided the scene for Corot's early triumph, the essential inspiration for his new art now lay in the North. The light is more subtle, more that of the Ile de France than of the Mediterranean; while the composition, framed by a delicate arabesque of trunks and branches and staffed by a cowherd and his herd, mirrors his increasingly classicizing landscapes.