Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot

Pierre Osmond, Paris
F. Osmond (by descent from the above)
Galeries Georges Petit, Paris (acquired in 1922)
Christian Otto Zieseniss (acquired before 1929, most likely from the above)

Alfred Robaut, L'Oeuvre de Corot. Catalogue raisonné et illustré, vol. II, Paris, 1905, no. 338, illustrated p. 121

This painting on paper has been lined onto linen. The paint layer seems to be slightly dirty, but is in very fresh condition nonetheless. Under ultraviolet light, one can see a retouch in the trees on the lower right and one in the center of the foreground about an inch from the bottom edge. There are no other retouches in the sky. There is a diagonal scratch in the center. There are imprints of canvas texture here and there, but this does not correspond to the fact that the work is originally painted on paper. The condition is very good. The above condition report has been prepared by Simon Parkes, an independent conservator who is not an employee of Sotheby's.
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.
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Corot’s biographers, Moreau-Nélaton and Robaut, write very little about his paintings from the early 1830s. After Corot returned from his first Italian trip in 1828, he spent the next few years traveling extensively in the French countryside before returning to northern Italy in May 1834. His French tour took him to previously familiar sites, such as Ville d’Avray and the Forest of Fontainebleau and also to new regions in Burgundy, the Auvergne and the Normandy coast, where he painted the present work in St. Lô during the summer of 1833. Dotted with Romanesque churches and rustic farmsteads, the varied landscapes of these regions provided Corot with new inspiration and allowed him to pursue the plein air techniques and innovations he had learned in Italy.

Most of Corot’s views of St. Lô from this period are small in scale (approximately 10 by 15 in., such as the present work)  and painted on paper or panel;  their portability evidence that they were most likely executed en plein air. Here, the sides of the large farmstead reflect the day’s sun and are reminiscent of Corot’s use of light in Italy a few years earlier. Thick green impasto identifies the lush foliage of the summer months, while the ground area is more thinly painted. Two small figures populate the landscape, one baling hay to add to the ever-expanding, almost abstract form of the stack in the lower right of the composition, but their presence is almost an afterthought, as Corot’s true passion was as a painter of landscapes.

Corot’s view of St. Lô provides a unique glimpse of the pastoral French countryside that 100 years later would become one of the most important battle sites of the Invasion of Normandy during World War II.