JEAN-BAPTISTE-CAMILLE COROT | LE GUÉ AU GROS ARBRE

M. Frémyn, Paris (and sold, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, May 10, 1876, lot 9, as Vaches traversant une rivière) 

Acquired in Japan circa 1990

Alfred Robaut, L'oeuvre de Corot, catalogue raisonné et illustré, Paris, 1965, vol. III, p. 220, no. 1922, illustrated p. 221 

Le gué aux gros arbres by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot was painted in 1870 at the peak of the artist’s career. This silent and peaceful setting is marked by the contrast between the soft, gray sky and calm water, which merge into one, and the subdued shadows of ancient trees that overtake the wooded outcrop and the figures beneath. In the present work, the artist demonstrates that with subtle shifts in tone, he can render the emotional effects of a place and the lasting impression of light. In the 1860s and 1870s, Corot subdued his color palettes, and brown, gray and silver were most prominent in his compositions, as in the present lot. While this subdued palette could have been a reflection of the artist’s overall mood, he was also likely influenced by contemporary landscape photography, with which he was experimenting. Landscape calotypes were dominated by brown, gray and green tones, and the images they depicted appeared hazy in this medium. In addition to taking photographs, Corot made clichés-verres, or drawings on photographic plates that could be printed, which would have challenged the artist to render nature with extremely limited tones (Gary Tinterow, Michael Pantazzi and Vincent Pomarède, Corot, exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1996, p. 265).

We would like to thank Martin Dieterle and Claire Lebeau for kindly confirming the authenticity of this lot.