Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot

Alfred Robaut, Paris (acquired in 1874 as a gift from the artist)

Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 28 November 1919, lot 11 (consigned by the estate of the above)

With Galerie F. & J. Tempelaere, Paris (acquired from the above)

With W. Palthe (acquired in 1920)

With Galerie E.J. van Wisselingh & Co, The Netherlands (acquired in 1936)

Dr. Oskar Reinhart, Winterthur (acquired in 1936 from the above)

Thence by descent to the present owner

Alfred Robaut, L'Oeuvre de Corot: catalogue raisonné et illustré, vol. II, Paris 1905, pp. 252-253, no. 763, illustrated

This handheld oil sketch on paper was likely painted outdoors on site at the old port of Dunkirk, the coastal city on France’s northern coast in Normandy, today inextricably linked with the evacuation of Allied soldiers at the end of World War II.

Corot first visited Dunkirk in 1830, then again in 1857, and a final time in 1873, with fellow artist Charles Daubigny. The present lot is one of about twelve studies in oil realized in September 1857, on his second trip, during which he also filled two sketchbooks with drawings of the port, docked fishing ships, and ramparts surrounding the city.

Looking down the inlet to the port, Corot positions himself on the shore where land and water meet, punctuated by sleepy ships and painting quickly with an economy of medium that lends a fleeting sense of eye-witness testimony to the quiet charming scene.