Jean-Baptiste-Camille "Corot Le kiosque de Ville d'Avray"
Corot was born in Paris and died there at the age of 79 in 1875. From 1822, he studied the classical approach to historical landscape painting, first under Achille-Etna Michallon (1796-1822), and then with Jean-Victor Bertin (1775-1842), but he also took his sketchbook to the forest at Fontainebleau, to study directly from nature. He was impressed by work of Constable that he saw exhibited at the Salon in 1824. Between 1825 and 1828, Corot traveled to Italy, soaking up the intellectual atmosphere and classic lines of Rome and the countryside nearby. Then, in 1827, he exhibited one of his first works at the Salon, Vue du pont de Narni (Bridge at Narni) (National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa), and he continued to send his works to the Salon until the year he died. From 1828, he traveled to many parts of France, producing La Cathedral de Chartres (1830, Musee du Louvre, Paris) and other works. Faithful to Michallon's teaching, he always sketched in the field, then painted in the studio from his sketches. During the 1830s and 1840s, he produced his Fontainebleau paintings and met Theodore Rousseau (1812-67) and Charles Daubigny (1817-78), among others. He revisited Italy in 1834 and 1843, then settled in Ville d'Avray. In February 1848, after the Revolution, he was elected a member of the Salon's hanging committee, and two years later he showed La matinee (1850, Musee du Louvre, Paris), which was purchased by the state. Predominantly executed in silvery-green, this picture evokes a poetic scene of nymphs dancing in the morning light. His success encompassed portraiture, too. At the Universal Exposition of 1855 in Paris, Napoleon 3 bought his Souvenirs de Marcoussis, pres de Montlhery (Musee du Louvre, Paris) and fame came to Corot overnight. His masterpiece, Souvenir de Mortefontaine (Musee du Louvre, Paris), went on display at the Salon in 1864. In 1862, he briefly went to London. There were further journeys around France, and Corot continued to paint until shortly before his death. His entire oeuvre, be it landscapes or portraiture, resonates with the same calm classicism.
Corot produced this picture for his mother's birthday; it was later discovered in his father's house at Ville-d'Avray. During the summer of 1847, when Corot was spending considerable time at Ville d'Avray in order to be close to his ailing father, he decorated the walls of a small kiosk with a series of six landscape compositions. This was one of these decorative series.
Its origin probably explains the restful family mood. The foreground figure, be hatted and reading a newspaper against the sunlight, is the artist's father. The two ladies, chatting as they lean on the handrail of a rustic bridge in the right background, are thought to be his mother and sister. Corot himself may be seen returning from a sketching expedition, carrying a portfolio under his arm. And in the center of the picture, waiting to welcome the painter on the path in front of the kiosk, or pavilion, is his brother-in-law, Mr. Sennegon, the husband of Corot's sister. The whole scene is one of contented country life, of a relaxed family enjoying a hot summer afternoon. The four tall trees, which seem to touch the sky over the pavilion, are strikingly green against the clear, refreshing blue of the sky.
The presence of all these family members demonstrates how important were the times spent in the gardens at Ville d'Avray. And the central significance given to his father suggests that his illness weighed heavily on the painter at a moment when the family gatherings were not only pleasant experiences but moments of concern for the well-being of a parent.
Click picture for larger view.(2.6KB)
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot
(1796-1875)
Le kiosque de Ville d'Avray
1847
Oil on canvas
150×110cm
