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Lot Essay
'This is not a landscape painter, this is the very poet of the landscape who breathes the sadness and joys of nature. The bond, the great bond that makes us as brothers of the rocks and trees, he sees it; his figures, as poetic as his forests, are not strangers to the woodlands that surrounds them. He knows more than anyone, he has discovered all the customs of the boughs and leaves, and now that he is sure he will not distort their inner life, he can dispense with all servile imitation' (Théodore de Banville, 'Le Salon de 1861', Revue fantaisiste 2, 1861, pp. 235-36).
Dating from 1865-1870, Vallons défrichés was painted during the most creative and successful period in the artist's career. During this five year period, Corot perfected the misty, often idyllic pastoral landscapes for which he became so revered. Corot was considered to be the leading landscape painter of his time, and Vallons défrichés is an exquisite example not only of his innate ability to capture his local environs, but also his ability to translate onto his canvas the atmospheric effects of any given time of day.
Vallons défriches, unlike many of the heavily wooded landscapes so favored by the artist, depicts figures on a path in an open landscape, punctuated by one large tree and a stand of silver birches on the right side of the composition. It is clearly mid-day as the light has the warm clear tones of noontime. The sky is a tour de force of atmospheric effects; white clouds tinged with yellow and lavender swirl above the figures on the path below and brilliant blue pockets punctuate its center, adding a sense of enveloping heat to the landscape. On the path, a charming scene of a mother attending to a small child takes place in the foreground, the middle ground is defined by the white house on the edge of the rise and the background by just a hint of architecture in the far hills. All is connected by the dry streambed and the two paths which draw the viewer through the landscape and into a world of sunlight and shadow, grassy mounds and dusty paths, illuminated by the diffuse light of the summer sky.
We are grateful to Martin Dieterle and Claire Lebeau for confirming the authenticity of this painting.
Dating from 1865-1870, Vallons défrichés was painted during the most creative and successful period in the artist's career. During this five year period, Corot perfected the misty, often idyllic pastoral landscapes for which he became so revered. Corot was considered to be the leading landscape painter of his time, and Vallons défrichés is an exquisite example not only of his innate ability to capture his local environs, but also his ability to translate onto his canvas the atmospheric effects of any given time of day.
Vallons défriches, unlike many of the heavily wooded landscapes so favored by the artist, depicts figures on a path in an open landscape, punctuated by one large tree and a stand of silver birches on the right side of the composition. It is clearly mid-day as the light has the warm clear tones of noontime. The sky is a tour de force of atmospheric effects; white clouds tinged with yellow and lavender swirl above the figures on the path below and brilliant blue pockets punctuate its center, adding a sense of enveloping heat to the landscape. On the path, a charming scene of a mother attending to a small child takes place in the foreground, the middle ground is defined by the white house on the edge of the rise and the background by just a hint of architecture in the far hills. All is connected by the dry streambed and the two paths which draw the viewer through the landscape and into a world of sunlight and shadow, grassy mounds and dusty paths, illuminated by the diffuse light of the summer sky.
We are grateful to Martin Dieterle and Claire Lebeau for confirming the authenticity of this painting.