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Lot Essay
"There is only one master here–Corot. We are nothing compared to him, nothing."
Claude Monet, 1897
"He is still the strongest. He anticipated everything."
Edgar Degas, 1883
We are grateful to Claire Lebeau for confirming the authenticity of this work.
Upon his return from the first trip to Italy in 1828, Corot concentrated on ways to develop the experience he had gained and the pictorial material he had amassed during those three formative years. Overwhelmed by the beauty of Italy, the young artist began painting nature for its own sake and for the pure pleasure of it. Relatively little is known about the time between his return from Italy in 1828 and his second trip in 1834, but it appears that he traveled frequently, searching the countryside of France for landscapes that inspired him. Corot sought variety, exploring the different qualities in different regions: the serenity and hazy atmosphere of Ville d’Avray, the wild and rugged landscape around the Forest of Fontainebleau, the thick forests of the Morvan and the transparent and luminescent light of Normandy. The views he painted entirely or partially from nature on his return from Italy are among the most beautiful and accomplished in his oeuvre.
The port of Honfleur at the mouth of the Seine in Normandy figured frequently in the work of the artists of the Impressionist generation after Charles Baudelaire’s visit of 1859 when he discovered the work of Eugène Boudin. Artists had been visiting this picturesque port since the end of the 18th century. Richard Parkes Bonington, Joseph Mallord William Turner, Paul Huet, Eugène Isabey and of course Corot were all guests at the celebrated inn at the Saint-Simeon farm, run by Mère Toutain and her daughter, who later played host to Gustave Courbet, Johan Bertold Jongkind, Boudin and the young Claude Monet. By choosing to paint in Honfleur, Corot was also following in the footsteps of his teacher Achille Michallon, who had painted in the ports along the Normandy coast as well.
The exact dates of Corot’s visits to Normandy and to Honfleur in particular before 1825 are unclear, although some fifteen paintings featuring the landscape around Honfleur are documented by Robaut and Moreau-Nélaton. It is clear that what attracted the artist about Honfleur at this time was its port–the play of light on water, the rigging of the ships and the fishermen's houses. In 1830, Corot definitely stayed on the Normandy coast for a part of August and September, painting mostly the ocean and boats. The present canvas is the only work from this visit depicting the houses in the port.
These paintings exemplify an approach to landscape painting that was realistic, intimate and faithful to the topography of the actual site. They represent a new vision, which was also evident in the work of Joseph Mallord William Turner and John Constable, and which would ultimately form the basis for the Impressionist movement in France. The critics of the day appreciated this unique sensibility that runs throughout Corot’s oeuvre and saw in it the seeds of the new painting in France. Andre Michel, writing in 1896 and with the benefit of hindsight, observed, "If one could place on one side of a gallery the ‘official’ compositions that Corot painted in his first years-following the rules and for submission to the Salon to be judged by his masters and the public–and on the other side the…studies that he made on his own…one would be struck by the deep differences between them. He seems as constrained and forced in the one group as he is spontaneous, original and charming in the other" (Notes sur l’art modern (peinture): Corot, Ingres, Millet, Eug. Delacroix, Raffet, Meissonier, Puvis de Chavannes. À travers les Salons, Paris, 1896, p. 14).
Honfleur, Maisons sur les quais provides a unique glimpse into the innate talent of the great master, created as it was before the artist had received any formal instruction in landscape painting. Here we see the young Corot’s artistic talent in its raw state and understand the devotion of the artists of the Impressionist movement he inspired. We see the ability to render beautiful, clear light delineated by an astonishingly economic use of color and brushwork. Each stroke is just enough to describe the desired sensation; each detail is beautifully rendered. Corot’s unique style, an aesthetic sensibility which would contribute to the re-orientation of the art of landscape painting, is already at hand. Corot sought to render the effects of light without any concessions to the picturesque. Gone is the underlying, precise drawing which was the basis of landscape painting up to that time. The fluidity and honesty of his palette, characteristics of Corot’s mature landscapes, are already evident here. Honfleur, Maisons sur les quais is the extraordinary result of a young artist’s exploration into the play of light on sky, stone, and water, seen through the transparent light of an afternoon along the Normandy coast. The palpable presence of Corot's large, rapid brushstrokes brings to mind the work of artists who followed after, such as Boudin and Jongkind and look forward to the work of the Impressionists, including Corot’s student Camille Pissarro.
Claude Monet, 1897
"He is still the strongest. He anticipated everything."
Edgar Degas, 1883
We are grateful to Claire Lebeau for confirming the authenticity of this work.
Upon his return from the first trip to Italy in 1828, Corot concentrated on ways to develop the experience he had gained and the pictorial material he had amassed during those three formative years. Overwhelmed by the beauty of Italy, the young artist began painting nature for its own sake and for the pure pleasure of it. Relatively little is known about the time between his return from Italy in 1828 and his second trip in 1834, but it appears that he traveled frequently, searching the countryside of France for landscapes that inspired him. Corot sought variety, exploring the different qualities in different regions: the serenity and hazy atmosphere of Ville d’Avray, the wild and rugged landscape around the Forest of Fontainebleau, the thick forests of the Morvan and the transparent and luminescent light of Normandy. The views he painted entirely or partially from nature on his return from Italy are among the most beautiful and accomplished in his oeuvre.
The port of Honfleur at the mouth of the Seine in Normandy figured frequently in the work of the artists of the Impressionist generation after Charles Baudelaire’s visit of 1859 when he discovered the work of Eugène Boudin. Artists had been visiting this picturesque port since the end of the 18th century. Richard Parkes Bonington, Joseph Mallord William Turner, Paul Huet, Eugène Isabey and of course Corot were all guests at the celebrated inn at the Saint-Simeon farm, run by Mère Toutain and her daughter, who later played host to Gustave Courbet, Johan Bertold Jongkind, Boudin and the young Claude Monet. By choosing to paint in Honfleur, Corot was also following in the footsteps of his teacher Achille Michallon, who had painted in the ports along the Normandy coast as well.
The exact dates of Corot’s visits to Normandy and to Honfleur in particular before 1825 are unclear, although some fifteen paintings featuring the landscape around Honfleur are documented by Robaut and Moreau-Nélaton. It is clear that what attracted the artist about Honfleur at this time was its port–the play of light on water, the rigging of the ships and the fishermen's houses. In 1830, Corot definitely stayed on the Normandy coast for a part of August and September, painting mostly the ocean and boats. The present canvas is the only work from this visit depicting the houses in the port.
These paintings exemplify an approach to landscape painting that was realistic, intimate and faithful to the topography of the actual site. They represent a new vision, which was also evident in the work of Joseph Mallord William Turner and John Constable, and which would ultimately form the basis for the Impressionist movement in France. The critics of the day appreciated this unique sensibility that runs throughout Corot’s oeuvre and saw in it the seeds of the new painting in France. Andre Michel, writing in 1896 and with the benefit of hindsight, observed, "If one could place on one side of a gallery the ‘official’ compositions that Corot painted in his first years-following the rules and for submission to the Salon to be judged by his masters and the public–and on the other side the…studies that he made on his own…one would be struck by the deep differences between them. He seems as constrained and forced in the one group as he is spontaneous, original and charming in the other" (Notes sur l’art modern (peinture): Corot, Ingres, Millet, Eug. Delacroix, Raffet, Meissonier, Puvis de Chavannes. À travers les Salons, Paris, 1896, p. 14).
Honfleur, Maisons sur les quais provides a unique glimpse into the innate talent of the great master, created as it was before the artist had received any formal instruction in landscape painting. Here we see the young Corot’s artistic talent in its raw state and understand the devotion of the artists of the Impressionist movement he inspired. We see the ability to render beautiful, clear light delineated by an astonishingly economic use of color and brushwork. Each stroke is just enough to describe the desired sensation; each detail is beautifully rendered. Corot’s unique style, an aesthetic sensibility which would contribute to the re-orientation of the art of landscape painting, is already at hand. Corot sought to render the effects of light without any concessions to the picturesque. Gone is the underlying, precise drawing which was the basis of landscape painting up to that time. The fluidity and honesty of his palette, characteristics of Corot’s mature landscapes, are already evident here. Honfleur, Maisons sur les quais is the extraordinary result of a young artist’s exploration into the play of light on sky, stone, and water, seen through the transparent light of an afternoon along the Normandy coast. The palpable presence of Corot's large, rapid brushstrokes brings to mind the work of artists who followed after, such as Boudin and Jongkind and look forward to the work of the Impressionists, including Corot’s student Camille Pissarro.