Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot

M. Lagarde, Paris (by 1875; sale: Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, Vente Lagarde, 27th January 1897)
Arnold & Tripp, Paris (purchased at the above sale)
Maurice Sabourdin, Paris (acquired in 1910)
Mollard Collection (acquired in 1942)
Raphaêl Gérard, Paris
Arthur Tooth & Sons, London (acquired in January 1950)
The 9th Earl of Jersey, Jersey (acquired from the above on 11th October 1949)
Thence by descent to the present owners

Paris, École Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Corot, 1875, no. 157 (titled Bord d'un étang avec chevaux à l'abreuvoir)
Paris, Galerie Georges Petit, Cent Chefs d'Œuvre, 1892, no. 92
Paris, Palais Galliéra, Centenaire de Corot, 1895, no. 92 (titled Étang de Ville-d'Avray)
St. Helier, Jersey Museum and Art Gallery, Barreau Art Gallery, Old Masters from Jersey Collections, 1952 (organised by the Arts Council of Great Britain – South Eastern Region), no. 7
London, The National Gallery & Edinburgh, The Royal Scottish Academy, Corot. An Exhibition of Paintings, Drawings and Prints, 1965, no. 84 (titled Watering place at Ville d'Avray, Ville d'Avray - L'abreuvoir des chevaux)
London, David Carritt Ltd., Corot and Courbet, 1979, no. 8
London, The Lefevre Gallery, Corot, 1989, no. 22, illustrated in colour in the catalogue

Alfred Robaut, L'Œuvre de Corot: Catalogue Raisonné et Illustré, Paris, 1905, vol. III, no. 1470, catalogued p. 74, illustrated p. 75

The canvas has been relined. Ultra-violet light reveals some minor scattered spots of re-touching at the extreme edges addressing frame rubbing, and in some areas patches of old varnish fluoresce green under U.V. light, obscuring a clear reading of the surface, however these do not appear to be covering any notable retouching. The work is in very good overall condition, and is ready to hang. Held in a decorative gilt frame with a nameplate. The colours are subtler and less saturated than in the catalogue illustration, with less yellow and pink.
"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."

The gently wooded scenery at Ville d’Avray, Corot’s home from the age of twenty-one, was portrayed by him throughout his career. Indeed it played a fundamental role in shaping his artistic vision of nature as a gentle and tranquil subject, in contrast to the turbulent Romanticism of his contemporary Théodore Rousseau, for example, who displayed a fascination for the wild and thickly wooded forest around the village of Barbizon. Corot’s father had bought the country house and grounds at Ville d’Avray, some miles to the west of Paris, in 1817. The young Corot’s room was beneath the eaves on the second floor, overlooking the pond, and became his first studio from which to observe the landscape directly. The house is visible in the present work from across the pond.

Ville d’Avray appears time and again in Corot’s paintings, becoming a symbol of the pastoral landscape and of Corot’s retreat from the encroaching modern world. Corot expressed his lack of sympathy for much that was going on in artistic circles around him. Yet at the same time works like Ville d’Avray: l’abreuvoir des chevaux were as modern in their execution as they were escapist in their subject.  Corot’s observation of light based on sketches made en plein air, and his ability to capture an impression of the moment, make him an important precursor of what Edmond Duranty in 1876 termed ‘The New Painting’, in other words Impressionism, the roots of which, he claimed, ‘lie in the work of the great Corot’ (Duranty, ‘La Nouvelle Peinture – a propos du groupe d’artistes qui expose dans les galeries Durand-Ruel’, Paris, 1876, in Les écrivains devant l’impressionnisme, Paris, 1989, p. 118).