Thread by @RobertBohan

Thread: Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (1796-1875) was one of the great landscape painters. He died on this day. The great artist created limpid & atmospheric views that would lead the way for French Impressionism. He was Oscar Wilde’s favourite painter.

Born in Paris to a wigmaker & fashionable milliner & he trained as a draper. In 1822, aged 26, he started to paint with an allowance from his parents. He took some art classes from a minor artist who introduced him to a range of artists’ work. Ville d’Avray (1823) & Self (c1825)

Here’s an overview of my own art which explores the world of the subconscious & nature. You can purchase in my Etsy shop. My work is about hope, empathy, love & joy. Take a look!

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Corot was working at a time when paint tubes were being invented - suddenly an artist could do oil sketches in situ or en plein air. He also integrated the neoclassical & realist styles. The Bridge of Narni (1825) & Old Man (1826)

From 1825-8 he was in Italy absorbing the art & the landscape. His goal was to paint the light as it appeared in the landscape. The Forum (1826), Rome (1826-7) & Bridge at Narni (1826-7)

Waterfall at Terni (1826) & Venice (1828). Corot’s work was taken up by Irish man Oscar Wilde & he was very sought after at the end of the 19th C. His lyrical atmospherics appealed to the Avant Garde in the UK & Ireland at the time.

Although known for his landscapes, Corot loved to paint women & study the nude. Honfleur (c1830), Houses (c1830) & Chartres (1830). His landscapes have a charismatic presence & profound emotional energy.

He returned to Paris (1828) & his focus was to make a name for himself by exhibiting at the Salon. He worked up his oil sketches of Italy into larger more classical exhibition pieces. Marie Louise Sennegon (1831), Fontainebleau (1832-3) & St Lo (c1833)

Corot discovered Barbizon, a rural community in 1829. He met Millet, Jacques & Daubigny at the artists’ colony there. Toussaint Lemaistre (1833), The Town & Lake Como (1834) & Venice (1834)

He returned to Italy having had lukewarm reception to his Salon pieces. He also painted his first nude describing it as good practice for the landscape painter. Florence (c1834-6), Volterra (1834) & Ville d’Avray (1835-40)

In the 1840s the critics still failed to recognise his genius. However in 1845 Baudelaire took up his cause. He declared Corot as the leader of the modern school of landscape painting. Louise Claire Sennegon (1837), The Artist’s Niece (1837), Silenus (1838) & Young Woman (1838)

His sunset landscape demonstrates that he had learnt from the work of Claude. Landscape (1839), Self-Portrait (c1839), Rocks at Fontainebleau (1842) & Geneva (c1842). Corot had an ability to arrange landscapes into satisfying compositions

His Lake Nemi has a fluidity of brushwork & understanding of light that predates Monet, Sisley & Pissarro. Lake Nemi (1843), Louis Robert (c1843-4), The Roman Odalisque (1843) & the Reader (1845)

He was awarded the Légion d’honneur in 1846. A year later some of the young bloods were praising him. Corot’s reputation began to rise. A Pond (c1850), The Dance of the Nymphs (c1850), Castel Gandolfo (1855-60) & The Vale (1855-60)

He took on students who then worshipped him & even trained Pissarro for a while thus handing on his knowledge to the Impressionists. Brooding Girl (c1857), The Road to Sevres (1858-9) & a Road in Normandy (1860-5)

His more Impressionist style works of the 1850s began to gather widespread appreciation. Corot’s Studio (c1860), Dreamer (1860) & Morning at Beauvais (1860)

His pictures of the 1860s often included either nymphs or peasants. The critics preferred peasants & complained if he included mythological creatures. Mother & Child (c1860), Reverie (1860-5) & the Curious Little Girl (1860-4)

Corot was now a famous artist & his works changed hands at high prices. He was noted for helping other artists & securing them commissions. In a Park (1862), Souvenir (1864), Pensive Girl (1865-70) & Bacchante (1865)

A typical example of his generosity is that he bought a house for the blind Daumier to retire to. Similarly he looked after Mrs Millet when her husband died. Fisherman (c1865-70), River with Distant Tower (1865), The Letter (1865) & The Muse (c1865)

One of his finest drawings is in the Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin .@TheHughLane It is the Seamstress & demonstrates his skill with a pencil. The Seamstress (1865), Agostino (1866) & Ville d’Avray (1867)

His image of Paris Burning is pure Impressionism. The Cowherd (1868), Woman with Pearl (1868-70), Woman Reading (1869-70) & The Dream, Paris Burning (1870)

He died in Paris, aged 78. He was a beloved figure of the Young Turks who rightly saw him as progenitor of the new art of Impressionism. The Punt (1870), Corot’s Studio (1873) & Venus Bathing (c1873-4)

In recent years his portraits have raised great interest. His approach is empathetic & fascinating - it’s as if we are partaking in his curiosity. Christine Nilson (1874), Lady in Blue (1874) & Road from Volterra (nd)

The Roman Campagna (c1826) is in the London National Gallery .@NationalGallery The Hugh Lane in Dublin has a room devoted to their collection of his work. Go see his beautiful art!

Here’s more of my artwork. I believe that art should be accessible to everyone & move you. Take a look!

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