Lot Details
Description
JEAN-BAPTISTE-CAMILLE COROT
French
1796 - 1875
PARC DE SAINT-GERMAIN
signed COROT (lower left)
oil on panel
5½ by 11 in.
14 by 28 cm
We would like to thank Martin Dieterle and Claire Lebeau for kindly confirming the authenticity of this lot.
Condition Report
The following condition report was kindly provided by Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.: This work on panel has been restored and should be hung in its current state. The panel is flat, and the paint layer is stable. It is clean and varnished. There are a few tiny retouches in the upper right sky and in the upper center. There are otherwise no retouches.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. 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.
Cataloguing
Provenance
Prevost Collection (by 1873)
Wildenstein & Co., New York and Paris
Literature
Alfred Robaut, L'oeuvre de Corot, catalogue raisonné et illustré, Paris, 1965, vol. II, p. 268, no. 831, illustrated p. 269, as canvas on panel
Catalogue Note
Parc de Saint-Germain, now called Parc de l'île Saint-Germain, sits on an island in the Seine in the 16th arrondissement. Corot would have passed it on his many trips from his Paris studio to Ville d’Avray, where he was born and always kept a home. The environs of Paris, such as the Parc de Saint-Germain, the Bois de Boulogne and the Forêt de Fontainebleu, remained relatively rural and unpopulated in the nineteenth century providing the respite of nature celebrated by so many contemporary artists, and especially the Impressionists. Roads are a recurring motif in Corot’s landscapes, and in this work a single woman meanders on a wide path leading towards the Seine, which placidly flows in the distance. Colorful flowers and a fountain at the center of the composition add to the sense of calm and quiet that pervades this picture.