Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot

Collection of Jérôme Ottoz, artists' colourman and friend of the artist; thence by descent

Paris, Orangerie des Tuileries, Corot, 1936, no. 27bis

The canvas has an old relining. Under UV light, there is some minor retouching, notably a small spot in the horizon at the left, a thin stroke above and to the right of the signature, and addressing frame rubbing at the extreme edges. There are some areas of slight thinness in the paint where the work may have been cleaned in the past. The general appearance of the work is good. The greens in the foreground are somewhat deeper in the original than in the catalogue illustration. Held in a gold-painted coved and fluted wood and plaster frame.
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In 1817, Corot's parents bought a house in Ville-d'Avray, near Paris, which became one of the artist's favourite locations to paint. Corot exhibited views of Ville d'Avray at the Paris Salons of 1859 and 1870. As the painter, collector, and art historian Étienne Moreau-Nélaton wrote, 'La providence a fait Ville-d'Avray pour Corot en même temps que Corot pour Ville-d'Avray' (in Corot raconté par lui-même, Paris, 1924, vol. I, p. 12)

Jérôme Ottoz, the first owner of this painting, was the leading Parisian supplier of artists' materials. Through his shop in Rue La Bruyère, Ottoz sold canvases, paints, and frames to many leading artists of the day, including Corot, Fromentin, and Degas, who painted his portrait.