This landscape by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (1796-1875) has dirt particulates across the surface. Early cleaning tests indicate that it is primarily a kind of coal or soot contaminate. But the remarkable thing is that the painting was not executed on canvas, but rather on silk. The surface is smooth and sublime, and will be a joy to work on; and aside from the surface contaminates the artwork is in rather good shape considering its age. The frame has damage to one of its corner on the underside. Stay tuned fore more…

The son of a Parisian shopkeeper, the young Corot was hired as a salesman by a cloth merchant, despite his evident gift for drawing.  Clearly lacking an aptitude for business, he was already twenty-six when his father gave him an allowance so that he could devote himself entirely to his vocation.

Studying with A. Michallon, with whom he painted his first landscapes in the Forest of Fontainebleau, and then with Victor Bertin, he took his first trip to Italy in 1825.  There he enjoyed the friendship of Caruelle d’Aligny and Edouard Bertin who shared his passion for painting from nature.  On his return three years later, he adopted a pattern of work, which he maintained throughout his life, of painting in his Paris studio during the winter and devoting the summer to traveling in France, interrupted by frequent visits to Ville d’Avray, Chailly and Barbizon.

From spring to autumn, he lived with his parents at Ville d’Avray.  He worked in the mornings and evenings, capturing the light and atmosphere of his favorite times of day.  He was an extremely kind and generous man much loved by his fellow artists, whom he was always ready to help with money and advice.

During his long career he became one of the most celebrated artists of his generation and exerted tremendous influence on the painters of the Impressionist movement.  He was awarded numerous medals and the coveted Legion of Honor in 1846.  Acknowledged as the world’s foremost landscape painter, fame did not spoil the simplicity of his character.  His work can be found in important public collections around the world.