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diff --git a/41674.txt b/41674.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 0ea4d24..0000000 --- a/41674.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1442 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, Corot, by Sidney Allnutt - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - - - - -Title: Corot - Masterpieces in Colour Series - - -Author: Sidney Allnutt - - - -Release Date: December 20, 2012 [eBook #41674] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK COROT*** - - -E-text prepared by sp1nd and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team -(http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by -Internet Archive (http://archive.org) - - - -Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this - file which includes the original illustrations. - See 41674-h.htm or 41674-h.zip: - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/41674/41674-h/41674-h.htm) - or - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/41674/41674-h.zip) - - - Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - http://archive.org/details/corotocad00allnuoft - - - - - -Masterpieces in Colour - -Edited by--T. Leman Hare - -COROT - -1796-1875 - - * * * * * - -"MASTERPIECES IN COLOUR" SERIES - - - ARTIST. AUTHOR. - VELAZQUEZ. S. L. BENSUSAN. - REYNOLDS. S. L. BENSUSAN. - TURNER. C. LEWIS HIND. - ROMNEY. C. LEWIS HIND. - GREUZE. ALYS EYRE MACKLIN. - BOTTICELLI. HENRY B. BINNS. - ROSSETTI. LUCIEN PISSARRO. - BELLINI. GEORGE HAY. - FRA ANGELICO. JAMES MASON. - REMBRANDT. JOSEF ISRAELS. - LEIGHTON. A. LYS BALDRY. - RAPHAEL. PAUL G. KONODY. - HOLMAN HUNT. MARY E. COLERIDGE. - TITIAN. S. L. BENSUSAN. - MILLAIS. A. LYS BALDRY. - CARLO DOLCI. GEORGE HAY. - GAINSBOROUGH. MAX ROTHSCHILD. - TINTORETTO. S. L. BENSUSAN. - LUINI. JAMES MASON. - FRANZ HALS. EDGCUMBE STALEY. - VAN DYCK. PERCY M. TURNER. - LEONARDO DA VINCI. M. W. BROCKWELL. - RUBENS. S. L. BENSUSAN. - WHISTLER. T. MARTIN WOOD. - HOLBEIN. S. L. BENSUSAN. - BURNE-JONES. A. LYS BALDRY. - VIGEE LE BRUN. C. HALDANE MACFALL. - CHARDIN. PAUL G. KONODY. - FRAGONARD. C. HALDANE MACFALL. - MEMLINC. W. H. J. & J. C. WEALE. - CONSTABLE. C. LEWIS HIND. - RAEBURN. JAMES L. CAW. - JOHN S. SARGENT. T. MARTIN WOOD. - LAWRENCE. S. L. BENSUSAN. - DUeRER. H. E. A. FURST. - MILLET. PERCY M. TURNER. - WATTEAU. C. LEWIS HIND. - HOGARTH. C. LEWIS HIND. - MURILLO. S. L. BENSUSAN. - WATTS. W. LOFTUS HARE. - INGRES. A. J. FINBERG. - COROT. SIDNEY ALLNUTT. - DELACROIX. PAUL G. KONODY. - -_Others in Preparation._ - - * * * * * - - -[Illustration: PLATE I.--DANSE DES BERGERS. Frontispiece - -The "Danse des Bergers" is the living memorial of a happy mood--one of -those moments of lyrical ecstasy of which Corot experienced so many, and -which, by his genius, those less fortunate are enabled to share. The -"feeling" in the drawing and painting of the trees is reminiscent of -some words spoken by the painter when Paris was oppressing him--"I need -living boughs. I want to see how the leaves of the willow grow from -their branches. I am going to the country. When I bury my nose in a -hazel-bush, I shall be fifteen years old. It is good; it breathes -love!"] - - -COROT - -by - -SIDNEY ALLNUTT - -Illustrated with Eight Reproductions in Colour - -[Illustration] - - - - - - - -London: T. C. & E. C. Jack -New York: Frederick A. Stokes Co. - - - - -LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS - - - Plate - I. Danse des Bergers Frontispiece - Page - II. L'Etang 14 - - III. Les Chaumieres 24 - - IV. Le Soir 34 - - V. Paysage 40 - - VI. Le Vallon 50 - - VII. Souvenir d'Italie 60 - - VIII. Vue du Colisee 70 - - All the illustrations are taken - from the Louvre, Paris - - - - -[Illustration] - - -The work of Jean Baptiste Camille Corot has been steadily rising in the -estimation of the instructed ever since he won his first notable -successes in 1840. During the greater part of the artist's life-time the -rise was very gradual, and he would have been astonished indeed if he -could have known how rapid it was to be after his death. It is by no -means only a rise in the selling prices of such of his works as come -into the market--a Corot has something more than a collector's value; -but figures are in their way eloquent, and when we find a work ("Le Lac -de Garde") for which the painter was glad to get 800 francs selling for -231,000 francs within thirty years of his death, the rapid growth in the -fame of the painter is materially evidenced. - -There are fashions in art as in everything else: for reasons which the -dealers could often disclose if they would, this or that artist's work -is suddenly boomed, and for a time commands absurdly big prices in the -auction rooms, only to find its proper level again when it is no longer -to anybody's interest to maintain an artificial valuation. But it is -difficult to believe that the passing of years will do anything to -diminish the fame of Corot, or lessen the prices which connoisseurs are -willing to pay for the possession of his work. Rather will both -increase, there is reason to think, as under the winnowing of Time's -wings the chaff is separated from the grain, and many a painter hailed -as a master to-day is scorned if not forgotten. For whatever may happen, -it is impossible to believe that the work of Corot will ever become -old-fashioned. There is in it something that does not belong to one -time, but to all times; not to one place, but to all places. It is -elemental and universal, and instinct with a vitality and youth that -unnumbered to-morrows can have no power to destroy. - -Even those critics who most strongly opposed the canons Corot -professed--and there were many of them--were often unable to condemn a -heresy in which faith was so justified by works: coming to curse, like -Balaam, they remained to bless. A far more trying ordeal the artist had -to undergo in the intemperate rhapsodies of enthusiastic admirers. But -neither censure or praise, the scepticism of his own people, or the -indifference of the picture-buying public, could tempt him to deviate -from the path that for him was the right one. "Vive la conscience, vive -la simplicite!" he used to say. His creed was in the words, and he lived -up to it. - -He claimed for the artist an entire independence. "You must interpret -nature with entire simplicity, and according to your personal sentiment, -altogether detaching yourself from what you know of the old masters or -of contemporaries. Only in this way will you do work of real feeling. I -know gifted people who will not avail themselves of their power. Such -people seem to me like a billiard-player, whose adversary is constantly -giving him good openings, but who makes no use of them. I think that if -I were playing with that man, I would say, 'Very well, then, I will -give you no more.' If I were to sit in judgment, I would punish the -miserable creatures who squander their natural gifts, and I would turn -their hearts to cork." Again he says--"Follow your convictions. It is -better not to exist than to be the echo of other painters. As the wise -man says, if one follows, one is behind." And again--"Art should be an -individual expression of the verities, an ardour that concedes nothing." - -[Illustration: PLATE II.--L'ETANG. - -"Beauty in art is truth bathed in the impression, the emotion that is -received from nature.... Seek truth and exactitude, but with the -envelope of sentiment which you felt at first. If you have been sincere -in your emotion you will be able to pass it on to others." So said Corot -to a pupil, and "L'Etang" would in itself be sufficient to prove that he -knew how to practise what he preached. It is a variant on a simple -motive that he was never weary of, and that he knew how to invest with -new beauties every time it came to him.] - -It is on the face of it rather a hopeless task to attempt to trace the -artistic pedigree of a painter who, at all costs, will be individual -with "an ardour that concedes nothing"; and it would not help much -towards an understanding of him. At the same time, it would be a mistake -to suppose that Corot was quite so independent of the influences around -as, perhaps, he imagined himself to be. "Artists," says Shelley in a -notable utterance, "cannot escape from subjection to a common influence -which arises out of an infinite combination of circumstances belonging -to the times in which they live, though each is in a degree the author -of the very influence by which his being is thus pervaded." - -Thus Corot took his part in the revolt against classicism in France, -with which the name of the little village of Barbizon is so inseparably -associated. He coloured it, and was coloured by it--so much was -inevitable; but his intense individuality none the less preserved him in -an aloofness from what I may be permitted to call the broad path of the -movement. And as he grew older, so far from becoming more affected by -his contemporaries, he only seemed more and more to discover himself. - -Before all things Corot was an idealist--a painter of ideas rather than -of actualities; which, of course, does not in any way discount his -simple sincerity. His landscapes give the idea of a place or an effect -rather than its exterior appearance. The rendering of a beautiful -passage of colour, of a gracious form, or a delicate play of light and -shade, was never held to be sufficient. Within the body of phenomena he -saw the throbbing heart and luminous soul of Nature revealed; and it was -the very heart and soul of his subject that he strove to prison in his -pigments. At the same time, dreamer as he was, there was always in him a -healthiness and sanity rare indeed amongst those who are given to seeing -visions. - -I remember a studio gathering at which Corot was discussed. I wish the -master, who always loved to be praised by those who could understand and -were sincere, could have heard what was said of him. At length some one -said, "Corot was a great artist. It is true that he also happened to be -a great painter." The words seemed to me to have meanings. - -A painter is a man who does something; an artist one who is something. -The statement may not be new, but it is true; and what it involves is, I -think, too often forgotten. - -In considering what a painter has done it is natural enough to be -preoccupied with his method, to become immersed in an analysis of his -technique. There will be an attempt to determine whether he is -faithfully obedient to the accepted canons, or modifying and adapting, -if not it may be defying them. In the latter case an endeavour must be -made to find a solution for the question whether these progressive or -revolutionary activities are justified in their result. - -It is criticism of this sort that fills innumerable studios with a -jargon unintelligible to all but those who are, so to say, "in the -trade" in one way or another, and can speak with a craftsman -knowledge--of technical terms if of nothing else. Such talk is often -futile enough, a breaking of butterfly nothings upon a ponderous wheel -of words; though it can, on occasion, be useful enough. In any case only -a few, comparatively speaking, are likely to be either interested or -benefited. - -It is altogether another matter when an artist is approached. How he -conveys his message is of much less importance than what is conveyed. He -may be poet, painter, or musician, but the need for understanding what -he does is infinitely less than that of learning what he is. This is not -to say that, in the case of the artist, technique is beneath -consideration; but it is to say that it must not be considered first. -Trembling script sometimes give the authentic gospel its birth in words, -and a true vision may be recorded by an uncertain hand. To lose sight -of the artist in contemplating the technique of the work by which he -reveals himself is to sacrifice the substance for the shadow. - -Corot was a great artist. To him his art was not a trade or an -amusement, still less a trick, but a religion. He worshipped with an -unceasing diligence and intensity before the chosen altar of his -adoration. Less than his best he dared not offer there. Nothing that was -not wholly honest and true could be acceptable. What a magnificent -character he gives to himself, all unconsciously, in confessing to M. -Chardin an artistic sin! "One day I allowed myself to do something chic; -I did some ornamental thing, letting my brush wander at will. When it -was done I was seized with remorse; I could not close my eyes all night. -As soon as it was day, I ran to my canvas, and furiously scratched out -all the work of the previous evening. As my flourishes disappeared, I -felt my conscience grow calmer, and once the sacrifice was accomplished -I breathed freely, for I felt myself rehabilitated in my own sight." - -What would some of our painters say to a conscience so tyrannous? - -It is, for me, impossible to look at Corot's work without feeling that -his was, if I may put it so, a monastic nature. Here is a serene and -cloistered art, something secluded from the traffic of the everyday -world, a vision intense rather than wide. I think of Corot as a priest -at the altar of one of Nature's innermost sanctuaries celebrating -sacramental mysteries. Every picture that came from him is an elevation -of the Host. - -This is the quality in his work, much more than a fastidious refinement -nearer the surface, that gives it so high a distinction. Hung in a -gallery among other pictures, a Corot does not clamour for notice. It -is much too quiet in matter and manner for that; but, after awhile, it -draws the eye, and when it has done so its hold is secure. The -surrounding canvases almost invariably begin to look a little vulgar in -its neighbourhood. And this not only because rioting colour might well -look blatant by the side of the tender greys and greens and rose flushes -that the artist loved so well, but because the spirituality of which -those tones are merely the expression places the Corot upon another and -a higher plane. - -To come upon a Corot in a gallery is like stepping out of the noisy -glare of the market-place into the cool stillness of a church. -Market-places are good things, and the noisy crowd is perhaps only noisy -because it is doing its appointed work in a right hearty fashion; but -the Presence seems nearer in the silence of the church. The silence is -not dead, but quick with soundless speech. So with a Corot picture; -its quietness is the very antipodes of stagnation. It seems to spread -far beyond the limits of the frame in ever-widening waves, until -everything around is subdued. - -[Illustration: PLATE III.--LES CHAUMIERES - -Luminous and almost uncannily true in tone, "Les Chaumieres" takes high -rank among the finest productions of Corot's maturer years. It is the -work of a man who "knows," who is able to take hold of essentials, and -let non-essentials go, with a certainty of discrimination. Profound -knowledge, so thoroughly assimilated as to be instinctive in its -application, can alone account for both the completeness and simplicity -of the landscape, the result achieved with apparently so absolute a lack -of effort.] - -The only other works of art which have ever given me quite the same -impression in this direction are one or two of those dreaming Buddhas -that, wherever they may be, seem to be shrined in a stillness emanating -from themselves. - -From first to last Corot was as independent as he was industrious. He -strove always to see Nature with his own eyes, and to keep his vision -clear and simple. Whether or not other painters had a grander or nobler -vision was nothing to him. It mattered only that he should be true to -the grace that was his own. "I pray God every day," he said, "that He -will keep me a child; that is to say, that He will enable me to see and -draw with the eye of a child." That prayer was surely answered, for -never did an artist look out upon the world with a more direct -simplicity, or with eyes more delicately sensitive to the appeal of -beauty. - -It was seldom the obviously picturesque that appealed to him. He seemed -instantly to apprehend the most elusive of the beauties in the scene -before him. That death-bed utterance of Daubigny is significant: "Adieu; -I go above to see if friend Corot has found me new landscapes to paint." -That was it: Corot never failed to find new landscapes to paint, for his -eye was keen enough to pierce through what seemed commonplace, and -discover the underlying beauty. Starting off on one of his innumerable -sketching excursions, he remarks to a friend that he has heard bad -accounts from painters of the country for which he is bound, but adds -that he has no doubt he will find pictures there. And, of course, he -found them. The pictures are always there, though the faculty of seeing -them is rare. - -No one ever worked more constantly and faithfully from Nature, or became -more intimately acquainted with the subtle outward expressions of her -innermost moods; but the profound knowledge thus gained was only treated -as the poet treats a wide vocabulary; as a means of expression, not as -in itself worth exploitation. The scene before him was not recorded as a -collection of facts, but as it had stirred his emotions, and as it was, -in a sense, transformed by his vivid imagination. The resulting picture -is the record of an adventure of the soul; the outward reality is not -lost, but rather realised in a strange intensity. "See," said Corot, -pointing to one of his landscapes, "see the shepherdess leaning against -the trunk of that tree. See, she turns suddenly. She hears a field-mouse -stirring in the grass." - -Of how the artist went to work when he had "found" a new landscape some -notion may be gained from M. Silvestre's description. "If Corot sees two -clouds that at first sight appear to be equally dark, he will, before -building up the whole harmony of his picture on one or other of them, -apply himself to discover the difference he knows must exist. Then, when -he has decided on the darkest as well as the lightest tone in the scene -before him, the intermediate values readily take their places, and -subdivide themselves indefinitely before his discerning eyes. These -values, from the most positive to the most vague, call to one another -and give answer, like echo and voice. When the artist sees he can divide -the principal values of the landscape before him into four, he does so -by numbering the different parts of his rough sketch from 1 to 4, 4 -standing for the darkest and 1 for the lightest patch, while the -intermediate tones are represented by 2 and 3. This method enables -Corot, with the help of any old pencil and any scrap of paper, to make -records of the most transitory effects seen upon a journey. Corot was -not a man to make an inventory of his sentiments, and the fact that he -made such records proves that they were sufficient for his own purposes. -As a rule he first of all puts in his sky, then the more important -masses in the middle of the composition, then those to the left and to -the right; he then picks out the forms of the reflections in the water, -if there is water, and so establishes the planes of his picture, his -masses falling in one behind the other while one watches him. Sometimes -he proceeds in a less orderly way; for it goes without saying that his -methods are the methods of freedom, and not the invariable recipes of a -pedant. He runs an unquiet eye over every part of the canvas before -putting a touch in place, sure that it does no violence to the general -effect. If he makes haste he may become clumsy and rough, leaving here -and there inequalities of impasto. These he afterwards removes with a -razor, as if he were shaving his landscape, and leaving himself free to -profit by such accidents of surface as are happy in effect." - -The picture of Corot sketching in shorthand shows him when the long and -close study of Nature had enabled him to generalise with confidence, and -when a memory, always retentive, had been trained to a pitch that made -it far more reliable than any sketchbook memoranda. Although he always -expressed impatience with the idea that anything worth doing could be -done merely by taking pains, Corot was the least apt of men to spare any -pains that were essential to his purpose; and nothing could be farther -from the truth than the suggestion sometimes made, that he was wanting -in this respect. To generalise as he generalised is not to be careless -of detail, but the very reverse: it implies a knowledge so complete of -every element in a landscape that those belonging to a particular view -of it can be selected with an unerring judgment, and what is -non-essential eliminated. "Put in as much as you like at first, and -afterwards efface the superfluity," is a bit of advice that comes from -Corot himself. It was not a strikingly original remark, but it could not -have been made by other than a conscientious worker. - -It is certainly a mistake to suppose that Corot was careless of details -in the sense that he did not give them due consideration; but he always -realised that details were details after all. "I never hurry to the -details of a picture," he said; "its masses and general character -interest me before anything else. When those are well established, I -search out the subtleties of form and colour. Incessantly and without -system I return to any and every part of my canvas." - -There is a note in Mr. George Moore's _Modern Painting_ that seems to -throw some illumination upon Corot's manner of looking at his subject. -Mr. Moore came upon the artist, an old man then, "in front of his easel -in a pleasant glade. After admiring his work, I ventured to say: 'What -you are doing is lovely, but I cannot find your composition in the -landscape before us.' He said, 'My foreground is a long way ahead.' And -sure enough, nearly two hundred yards away, his picture rose out of the -dimness of the dell, stretching a little beyond the vista into the -meadow." - -I think Corot's foreground had a habit of being a considerable way -ahead. - -[Illustration: PLATE IV.--LE SOIR - -"My 'Soir,' I love it, I love it! It is so firm," said Corot, standing -before his picture in the exhibition gallery in company with an -appreciative friend. It is "firm" enough beyond question, and the sky -especially is a marvel of delicate, palpitating colour. But it is much -more, a moment of magic beauty, evanescent as the reflected picture on a -bubble-bell, seized and made permanent; an emotion of pleasure cast into -a material shape.] - -To most, Corot is "the man of greys," the painter of the twilight. -Without for a moment suggesting that this is true in so far as it -seems to hint that his art had very narrow limitations, I am certainly -inclined to believe that the general eye has fixed itself upon his most -characteristic and most valuable work. The two dawns, as the old -Egyptians called them, Isis and Nephthys, the dawn of day and the dawn -of night, revealed themselves to Corot with a fulness to be measured -only perhaps in part by the manner in which he has revealed them to us. -The stillness, the freshness, the indescribable tremor of awakening -life, the curious sense of a remoteness in familiar things, the -expectancy as of some momentous revelation, all that goes to make the -mystery and magic of the dawn, he knew how to translate into subtle yet -easily understandable terms of form, and tone, and colour. It was a -miracle to which he seemed to have found the key--perhaps by means of -that prayer to be "kept a child." Over and over again he invoked the -dawn to appear upon his canvas, and never in vain. In ever-varying robes -of loveliness, but the same in all of them, the dawn responded to his -call. - -Grey dawn! The words had a cold and gloomy sound until Corot interpreted -them, taking the gloom away and leaving of the cold only the delicious -shiver of the morning freshness. Beautiful almost as the dawn -itself--born of it as they were--are those wonderful pearly greys of -his. His palette seemed to hold an infinite range of them, each pure and -perfect in itself, and each in a true harmonic relation to the others. - -And if the painted dawns are beautiful, they are also true; they carry -instant conviction of their absolute verity. There is only one thing -that can make a painted canvas do this, and that is truth of tone, and -of tone-values Corot made himself a master, mainly because he never -ceased to be a student. He retained the eye of a child, but his mind -became stored with the accumulated experience of many long hours that -were only not laborious because the work was a delight. And great as the -store grew in process of time, he was adding to it up to the last. - -Here is a picture by Albert Wolff of the artist at the age of 79, when -the hand of Death was already stretched out towards him. "An old man, -come to the completion of a long life, clothed in a blouse, sheltered -under a parasol, his white hair aureoled in reflections, attentive as a -scholar, trying to surprise some secret of nature that had escaped him -for seventy years, smiling at the chatter of the birds, and every now -and again throwing them the bar of a song, as happy to live and enjoy -the poetry of the fields as he had been at twenty. Old as he was, this -great artist still hoped to be learning." - -It is altogether an important thing about Corot that he was always -singing--in season and out of season I was about to say, when I -remembered that he would probably have declared that it was always -singing-time. He went to his work carolling like a lark, though with a -somewhat robuster organ, and snatches of song punctuated his brush -strokes. The day's work done, he broke out into melody in earnest, and -sang to himself, to his friends, at home or abroad, with equal vigour -and enjoyment. We are told that on one occasion his irrepressible song -broke out at an official reception, doubtless to the confusion of -dignities and the shocking of many most respectable people. - -I cannot but think that something of music found its way into Corot's -pictures. They look as if they could have been done in music as well as -they were done in paint. In a way they were: if there was always a -song on his lips, surely there was also a song at his heart. One may -say that his paintings were built to music like the walls of Thebes. -They are haunted by sweet harmonies, and seem charged with hidden -melodies that tremble on the verge of sound. - -[Illustration: PLATE V.--PAYSAGE - -The play of light filtering through foliage has never been more -beautifully rendered upon canvas, or with a closer approximation to the -truth of Nature, than in the "Paysage," reproduced here. The manner in -which the tree has been portrayed, the body and soul of it, is not less -astonishing. The landscape is a masterpiece among masterpieces, and an -impressive witness to Corot's amazingly sensitive faculty of -apprehending what was in front of him, both with eye and mind.] - -Many of those who read may shake their heads at this attempt to make a -confusion of two arts, but my apology shall take the form of a quotation -from Corot himself. Moved to sudden emotion by a magnificent view, he -exclaimed, "What harmony! What grandeur! It is like Gluck!" I think the -man who said that may possibly have painted a little music, without -caring for a moment whether he was confusing the arts or not. Perhaps he -felt that painting and music were more nearly related than a certain -school of critics can allow itself to admit. But that is by the way. - -When in Paris he was frequent in his attendances at concerts and the -opera, and indeed music always drew him with a power only second to that -of his chosen mistress--painting. As the twig is bent the tree will -grow--it may be that had the accidents of his early environment been -other than they were, his name would be famous as that of a great -composer instead of a great painter. Fortunately we do not know what we -may have missed, while we are fully conscious of what we have gained. - - * * * * * - -The father of Corot the painter was Louis Jacques Corot, who, if he -escaped being altogether a hairdresser, only did so by a narrow margin. -One would rather like to imagine him as another "Carrousel, the barber -of Meridian Street." - - "Such was his art, he could with ease - Curl wit into the dullest face; - Or to a goddess of old Greece - Lend a new wonder and a grace. - The curling irons in his hand - Almost grew quick enough to speak; - The razor was a magic wand - That understood the softest cheek." - -Such was Carrousel, according to Aubrey Beardsley's ballad, and such -Louis Jacques Corot should surely have been, if only to make his son -more easily explainable; but, as a matter of fact, he appears at an -early age to have forsaken the high art of hairdressing for more -strictly commercial pursuits. He became a clerk, and his wife's -assistant manager. - -For Madame Corot was a business woman--very much so. She was a native of -Switzerland, and evidently of the practical nature that so often -distinguishes the Swiss people. A woman of property in a moderate way, -and two years older than her husband, as well as a capable manager, she -does not appear by any means to have allowed marriage to submerge her -own personality. As a _marchande de modes_ she was a distinct success. -Fashion found its way to her establishment in the Rue du Bac, and the -name Corot became a hall-mark of elegance. - -Perhaps her son owed more to his mother than has sometimes been -suspected. Corot himself remarked that a skill equal to that of the -painter was often shown by the costumier in the blending of -colours--indeed he went farther, and said as much of a certain -flower-seller of his acquaintance and her bouquet-making. Really, when -one comes to think of it, he may be said to come of artists on both -sides, for if his father was scarcely as much of a hairdresser as we -should like him to be, his paternal grandfather's claim to the -description is beyond criticism. - -Under these circumstances it is a little sad that, when he had completed -his educational career without winning any considerable distinction, it -was decided to make a draper of him. There is every evidence that, in so -far as the attempt went, he made a very bad draper indeed. I do not know -how long it took him to come to the conclusion that he would never make -a good one--not very long, I should say--but after a trial of six years -or so, it would seem that his father had arrived at the same conclusion. -When his son declared his intention of abandoning drapery and of -becoming a painter, Corot _pere_ did not offer any strenuous objection. -He thought that the young man was a fool, and said so, with possibly a -little bitterness, but on the whole with resignation. What was more to -the point, he made a small provision, so that his son might live while -"amusing himself." - -The provision in question was certainly a small one--1500 francs a -year--but it prevented Corot from ever knowing the extremities of -poverty to which some of his brilliant contemporaries were reduced. As -he said, he could always count on "shoes and soup"--and shoes and soup, -if not much in themselves, can often bridge the gulf that lies between -hope, or even content, and despair. Moreover, Corot's wants were few. -Throughout his life he had the simplest tastes, and his only -extravagance was a charity that gave without measure and never thought -about return. - -However, figure to yourself Corot fully embarked on his career -as a painter. He is, roughly, twenty-five years of age, and for -stock-in-trade has glowing health, a certain familiarity with pencil and -brush already acquired, an unquenchable enthusiasm, and so many francs a -year. On the whole it is the outfit of a very happy and fortunate young -man. - -Once emancipated from the compulsions of drapery he lost no time in -setting to work. He went straight to Nature, and even at this time -produced work that bore a hall-mark as distinctive as that of his later -years. He worked also in the studios of Michallon and of Bertin, and if -they did him no good (and there is little reason to suppose such a -thing), they at least did him no harm. Already he was too keenly engaged -upon a line of his own. - -Around Ville d'Avray, where his father had bought a house, he found -numberless subjects ready to his hand, subjects of which nothing that he -saw in his wide wanderings could ever make him tired. He also had an -experience in Morvan. I shall venture to quote from Mr. Everard -Meynell's "Corot and his Friends," concerning it. "He went, presently, -to the little hamlet of Morvan, whose blacksmith gave him hospitality. -As a member of a farrier's numerous family, with the forge for -sitting-room, and its fires to assuage the cold of mortals and of -metals, and soup for fuel, and the blue smock of the country for -raiment, Corot saved money. He saved money out of the 1200 francs of his -allowance; even the cost of canvas and paints did not bring his -expenditure to three francs a day. His austerity meant Rome, but it was -not a hard road for him to follow. Never was a man less provoked to any -of the pampered ways of living." - -"It was in Morvan that Corot picked up with the peasant, and found in -him many things fit to be learned. He learnt about soups, and pipes, and -blouses, and the habit of the sunrise; and nothing that he learned did -he forget. Soups, and pipes, and blouses, and the sunrise lasted him -till the end of his life. These things, like the honest humour and -good-comradeship of a man afield, were in his blood; but Morvan and -Morvan's blacksmith, and daily things done with the Morvan peasantry, -developed the peasant in the painter. Corot's was nearer to the -peasant's character than Millet's even; for the emotional gloom of -Millet's outlook, his sense of the price paid for life, his sense of -death and toil, of the significance of the seed and the scythe, made him -a person too great and dreadful to be familiar with those for whom he -thought and felt. Corot's laugh and song, his raillery and content, were -things to be friends with." - -[Illustration: PLATE VI.--LE VALLON - -"Le Vallon" is probably one of the best-known and most universally -admired of Corot's works. It does not record one of those tender -twilight effects in which, as may be believed, the painter found his -keenest pleasure, but the quiet glory of a golden afternoon. The simple -landscape is bathed in the most wonderful of painted sunshine, and -possesses an extraordinary verity. The material essentials of the scene -are set down with an unerring regard for truth, but it is in -interpreting its "sentiment" that the most notable success has been -achieved.] - -I think that in the foregoing passage the influence upon Corot of the -Morvan visit, though it may well have been a memorable one, has been -perhaps a trifle exaggerated. Surely he must have "picked up" with the -peasant long before, and found out how much he had in common with the -dweller on the soil. And will the comparison with Millet fully bear -examination? I doubt it. The extraordinary delicacy and refinement of -Corot's vision is at least a thing as foreign to the peasant as the -tense emotionalism of Millet; and I suspect that the deep-rooted content -of the one was as much removed as the implicit revolt of the other from -the people with whom in their several ways they were both so much in -sympathy. That in personal relations Corot got nearer than Millet to his -peasant friends is more than probable. If not more understandable in -reality, he seemed so in daily intercourse with those as simple and -direct as himself. There was nothing in him to repel. His gay and -expansive nature invited a confidence that was seldom withheld, except -by those too distrustful and secretive themselves to understand it. - -The first visit to Italy, undertaken in 1825, marks an epoch in the life -of Corot, as in that of many another painter. But though it widened his -outlook, and taught him much that otherwise he might never have learned, -it did not tempt him to any deviation from the simple principles that -all through his life guided him in the practice of his art. All the -inducements which Italy could offer were not sufficient to make him -incline to use other eyes than his own when painting. He seems to have -treated the Masters in an unusually cavalier manner. Nature in Italy -interested him much more than Art in Italy: he was more concerned with -sunsets than with Michael Angelo. - -As was his custom, Corot was always at work in Italy, "sitting down" -with his usual happy knack in finding the right spot, and painting what -he saw as he saw it, with careful fidelity to his own beautiful way of -looking at things. Sometimes he worked from models in his room, but -whether indoors or out, day after day found him painting, painting with -unabated enthusiasm and ever-fresh delight. - -And he made friends, as always--among them d'Aligny, who was the first -to take the true measure of the then somewhat awkward young man. -"D'Aligny," says Mr. Everard Meynell, "was the discoverer of his genius -and its advertiser; for having found Corot at work on the 'Vue du -Colisee,' now hanging in the Louvre, he made a formal statement of his -admiration at 'Il Lepre' (a cafe in Rome much frequented by painters) -that night. 'Corot, who sings songs to you, and to whom you listen or -call out your ribald chaff,' said he, 'might be master of you all!'" - -The friendship lasted until the death of d'Aligny in 1874, and Corot -never forgot the generous praise that had so encouraged him during those -early days in Rome. - -In 1827 Corot exhibited for the first time in the Salon. The two -pictures which bore his name were not unnoticed, but no one was -sufficiently interested to purchase them. It was indeed fortunate on the -whole that he was assured of "shoes and soup" from other sources than -his art, for it was not until 1840 that it brought him any monetary -reward worth mentioning. But it would be beside the mark to say that he -had to endure any remarkable period of neglect. It must be remembered -that his career as a painter did not seriously begin until he was of an -age when many artists have already secured something of a position for -themselves. His work, too, was not of such a description as to make any -sensational impact upon the attention of the art-loving public. - -Before he returned from his first visit to Rome he had, however, made -his mark in some measure, had been hailed by a few discerning critics as -one of the elect. The enthusiastic testimony of d'Aligny and one or two -others had been endorsed with signatures that carried some weight--only -at home was he still held to be an amateur. His right to a place among -the more notable artists of his time was no more questioned, except by -those whom ignorance or prejudice had rendered incapable of sane -judgment. - -Once more, and again, he visited Italy, painting as he went, and what -was much more to the purpose, filling with magic pictures the tablets of -his mind: but I doubt if these subsequent visits carried him far beyond -the point he had arrived at during the first. Each day he was gaining -more knowledge and greater dexterity, but his point of view was never -seriously modified. Italy gave to his delicacy some of its strength, -invested the most tender-hearted of painters with the touch of sternness -that could alone save his work from becoming invertebrate: but it could -not materially alter his habit of vision, or turn into dramatic shape an -inherently lyrical gift. He saw Nature as a song in France first of all -and last of all; Italy only helped him to give the song a more severe -metrical basis than it might otherwise have possessed. Much that was -sweet in Corot it would seem that the relentless landscapes and pitiless -skies of Italy helped to make strong. - -From 1840 onwards one may say that Corot was steadily growing into fame. -In that year two of his pictures were bought by public authorities, and -thus, for the first time, an official imprimatur was set upon his -increasing reputation. He never knew the feverish delight of awaking one -morning to find himself famous. The value of his work was only very -slowly recognised, and as his paintings attracted more and more notice a -heavy fire of hostile criticism was opened upon them: with no more -effect than to make him smile as he went upon his way. - -Some of these egregious criticisms are so utterly beside the mark that -it is difficult to believe them anything but the result of a wilful -misapprehension on the part of the critics. They seem to be inspired by -venom and spite when read to-day: but in their own time they probably -fairly represented the serious opinions of many who thought they were -defending legitimate art against a spreading anarchy. It is even -possible that such as Nieuwerkerke, who, as Mr. Meynell records, was -"overheard describing Corot as a miserable creature who smeared canvases -with a sponge dipped in mud," honestly believed that he was -administering a well-deserved castigation to a charlatan. It is more -than likely that many of us are making mistakes almost as serious -to-day, so we need not find such an attitude incredible. - -[Illustration: PLATE VII.--SOUVENIR D'ITALIE - -Corot at the height of his powers is seen in the "Souvenir d'Italie." -The thousand subtle nuances of exquisite colour in the luminous sky, the -refined drawing and firm painting of the trees, and the happy confidence -revealed by every brush mark upon the canvas, make it one of the most -delightful and, we may say, most "lovable" of its creator's works.] - -There were other critics at this same period who were less hampered by -preconceived notions, and came to a very different conclusion than those -who were able to dismiss the whole Nature school with contempt as -"pampered humbugs." Delacroix could see that Corot was not "only a man -of landscapes" but "a rare genius," and he was not alone. Every year, as -one masterpiece after another appeared at the Salon from the -"mud-dauber's" brush, the general body of artists and art-lovers were -more disposed to give him the rank that was his due. - -In 1848 Corot was elected one of the judges for the annual exhibition by -his fellow-artists. He himself sent nine pictures, and one of them, a -"Site d'Italie," was purchased by the State. The following year Corot -was again one of the judges, and in 1850 he was elected a member of the -"Jury de Peinture." He had become a personage in the art-world of -France. Already in 1846 he had been decorated with the Cross of the -Legion of Honour, to the astonishment of his worthy father, who could -not in the least understand on what grounds such an honour had been done -to his failure of a son. - -The history of Corot's following years there is no necessity to follow -in detail. Like the years which had gone before, they were fulfilled -with happy labour. He journeyed through the length and breadth of -France, to Switzerland, and elsewhere, "finding landscapes" with that -apprehensive eye of his, and recording them on canvas or on paper, or -storing them in the pigeon-holes of a memory that in such matters never -failed him. For the rest the record is one of a continually increasing -appreciation of his work. It started in a very small circle, extending -thence in ever-widening ripples. Almost imperceptibly his fame increased -until he became an acknowledged master. - -In view of the sums paid for many of them since, the prices he obtained -for his pictures seem ridiculously small, but there is no reason to -suppose that he was anything but well content with such material rewards -as came his way. Indeed, so much to the contrary, for some time he -looked upon the increasing prices which purchasers were willing to pay -with a mild astonishment and a kind of humorous fear that it was too -good to be true. - -The slighting of his earlier work and the laudation excited by the later -had precisely the same effect upon him--that is none at all. If one had -asked him, I think he would have said both alike were out of -perspective. And he would have spoken without any taint of bitterness: -for, from the very first, he was both confident and humble. - -Of the man Corot there are many portraits both in pen and pencil, that -help to give an outward shape to the more intimate revelation of -personality to be found in his work. - -One of the most interesting is a portrait by the artist of himself as a -young man. He is sitting, a burly, broad-shouldered figure, before his -easel. The face looks out from the canvas square and strong, but the -full-lipped mouth is sensitive, almost tremulous, and betrays the nature -of the man even more surely than the alert eyes; though these eyes, on -the pounce, one may say, and the forehead drawn in the intense endeavour -to _see_--these also tell their own story. - -A pen-portrait of later date by Silvestre describes the artist as "of -short but Herculean build; his chest and shoulders are solid as an iron -chest; his large and powerful hands could throw the ordinary strong man -out of the window. Attacked once, when with Marilhat, by a band of -peasants of the Midi, he knocked down the most energetic of them with a -single blow, and afterwards, gentle again and sorry, he said, 'It is -astonishing; I did not know I was so strong.' He is very full-blooded, -and his face of a high colour. This, with the bourgeois cut of his -clothes and the plebeian shape of his shoes, gives him at first sight a -look which disappears in a conversation that is nearly always full of -point, of wit, and matter. He explains his principles with great ease, -and illustrates the method of his art with anything at hand; and that -generally is his pipe. He so loves to talk about his practices in -painting that, a student told me, he will talk in his shorts and with -bare feet for two hours at a stretch without being once distracted by -the cold." - -Many photographs are in existence to present to us Corot in his autumn -time. Says M. Gustave Geffroy, examining one of these: "The features are -clearly marked. The brow, high and bare, crowned with hair in the _coup -de vent_ style, is furrowed with lines. His glance goes clear, keen, -direct, from beneath the heavy eyelids. The nose, short and fleshy, is -attached to the cheeks by two strongly marked creases. There is a smile -on the lips, of which the lower is very thick--altogether a good, -intelligent, witty face." In general appearance, I may add, these later -portraits of Corot always remind me of the late Mr. Lionel Brough. - -To my mind there is something more in these photographs than M. Geffroy -has called attention to. They are the portraits of a very happy man. A -deep spiritual happiness and content make the old, wrinkled face a -beautiful one. It is the face of one who, to use a lovely old phrase, -"walked with God," and of whom it was said, "_c'est le Saint Vincent de -Paul de la peinture_." - -As one of his friends said, Corot was "adorably good." He was a good -son, for all that he found himself unable to fall in with his father's -desire to make him a successful draper: and the fact that "at home" his -outstanding abilities were never recognised, could not in the least -abate the warmth of his family affections. And he was a good friend. He -never forgot a kindness done to him either in word or deed, although his -memory seemed to be singularly incapable of retaining a record of -anything done to his hurt. It has been said, and the argument could be -powerfully supported, that the same qualities that go to the making of a -good friend make a bad enemy. Very likely it is true in ninety-nine -cases out of a hundred: if so the case of Corot was the hundredth. He -seemed to have a natural incapacity to bear malice or retain a sense of -injury. Perhaps he was too simple or too wise; or, maybe, both. - -Not less characteristic of Corot than his manner of going about always -with a song on his lips, was his incurable habit of giving. The wonder -is that he ever had anything at all left for himself, that even shoes -and soup did not follow after francs. And very reprehensibly, of course, -he gave to almost every one who had recourse to him, as well as to many -who did not. His generosity was all but indiscriminate, and conducted in -a manner that, it may be supposed, would drive a charity organisation -society to distraction. He was victimised often and knew it, but the -knowledge never dulled the edge of an insatiable appetite. To give was -at once a luxury and a necessity to him, as appears, and he was never so -gay as when he had been indulging himself in this direction rather more -recklessly than usual. "He would paint" (I quote from Meynell), "saying -to himself, 'Now I am making twice what I have just given.' Or, again, -having just emptied his cash drawer, he would take up his easel, saying: -'Now we will paint great pictures. Now we will surprise the -nations.'" Rather a foolish fellow evidently: but "one of God's -fools," as I heard an old priest say of a somewhat similar example. - -[Illustration: PLATE VIII.--VUE DU COLISEE - -The "Vue du Colisee" is a reminiscence of Corot's first visit to Rome. -It plainly shows that even in those early days he had obtained a great -mastery of his medium, and could set down with distinction what he so -clearly saw. Though the subject is a big one, it is handled in such a -fashion that simple dignity is its outstanding characteristic. The "Vue -du Colisee" was one of the paintings that first gained for Corot the -high consideration of the more discerning among his artist friends.] - -Notwithstanding the love that made the keynote of his character, all the -investigations of the curious have not discovered an "affair of the -heart" in Corot's life story. It is a story to all intents and purposes -without a woman in it: or, if that is saying too much, certainly without -a heroine. There has been some attempt to exalt his relations with -"Mademoiselle Rose" to the level of a romance, but it has failed -completely for want of materials. Mademoiselle Rose was one of his -mother's work girls, and in those early days, when he was but newly -emancipated from the bondage of drapery, she used to come to see him at -his painter-work. She never married, and thirty-five years later Corot -still counted her among his friends, and she visited him from time to -time. It is a little romance of friendship, if you like, it may have -been on the part of Mademoiselle Rose something more--who knows?--but it -cannot count as a Corot love-affair on the evidence that is available. - -As far as is known this is the nearest approach to a "love interest" in -the life of the artist. It may have been that he looked upon women too -much with the eye of an artist ever to be able to see them merely as a -man; more probably it was the element of austerity in him that kept him -immune from passion. - -With all his intense delight in life and in living, Corot was always -detached; always preserved, as by a religious habit, from actual contact -with the world around him. Through the midst of the follies, the -extravagances, and the vices of Romanticist circles in Paris of the -thirties, he passed without coming to any harm, and characteristically -enough, without losing his regard for some of the wildest of a wild -company. He took part in much of the "fun" that was going on, but though -often in the set he was never of it, and so far as can be judged it did -not influence him, or colour his outlook upon life, in the slightest -degree. - -I think it was this temperamental detachment, and possibly a sense, -unexpressed even to himself, of being vowed to one particular service, -that prevented Corot from ever "falling in love," as the phrase goes. -Or, to put it another way, his life was so full of his art, that there -was no room within its limits for another dominating interest. - -Simple and single-minded, happily pursuing the occupation that of all -others he would have chosen, he made his life a work of art more lovely -than the most beautiful of his paintings. No one can live in such a -world as this for the allotted span and more without becoming -acquainted with grief, but Corot knew none of those searing sorrows -which scorch their way into heart and brain, until they make existence a -burden hardly to be borne. His faith in "the good God," to whom he -looked up with so childlike a confidence, was so complete that sorrow -for him could hold no bitterness; nor, deeply sympathetic as he was, had -it power over an impregnable content and an unfailing serenity. - -And he died as he had lived. A few days before his death it is recorded -"that he told one of his friends how in a dream he had seen 'a landscape -with a sky all roses, and clouds all roses too. It was delicious,' he -said; 'I can remember it quite well. It will be an admirable thing to -paint.' The morning of the day he died, the 22nd of February, 1875, he -said to the woman servant who brought him some nourishment, 'Le pere -Corot is lunching up there to-day.'" - -"It will be hard to replace the artist; the man can never be replaced," -was one fine tribute to his memory; and another, "Death might have had -pity and paused before cutting short so sweet a life-work." - -A sale of some 600 of Corot's works took place in the May and June -following his death. It realised nearly two million francs, or L80,000. -This is, of course, not a fraction of the sum that would be realised -were the same pictures to be put up to auction to-day; but it shows that -his achievement was beginning to be estimated at something approaching -its true value. - -Corot's work, of which at one time he was able to boast he had a -"complete collection," is now scattered to the four corners of the -earth. Paris possesses some splendid examples at the Louvre, and there -are many not less admirable distributed among the provincial galleries -of France. America holds a large number in public and private -galleries, and there are in private ownership in this country Corots -sufficient to make a magnificent collection. Lately the National Gallery -has been enriched, by the Salting bequest, with seven fine paintings -from the master's hand, eloquent witnesses alike to his individuality -and variety. - -To me it is an added joy, when I stand before a Corot picture, to think -of the gracious personality of its creator. It is almost as if his -eager, happy voice were pointing out the manifold beauties of the -miraculously bedaubed canvas, and recalling the "moment," so certainly -made permanent there. - -It is always a "moment" that is seized in Corot's paintings, with the -exception of some of the earliest. Nature is surprised with her fairest -charms unveiled, in a passing emotion, of laughter or of tears. There is -life, movement, the tremble of being, in everything set down. The air is -palpitant with colour, rainbows are dissolved in an atmosphere that -clothes everything in magic and mystery. - -Beneath the gay confidence of the painting, subserving the emotion of -the moment, what knowledge is shown in these pictures! These tree forms, -bold and delicate, with such wonderful subtleties of drawing in them, -give more than externals. They reveal a very psychology of trees, the -soul that the artist so plainly saw in everything around him. He was -concerned to set down far more than the details of the scene before him, -not in the least satisfied to be but a reporter. The higher, or, if you -like, deeper verities were what he strove for, and the universal verdict -to-day is that he did not strive in vain. - -The figure-painting of Corot is comparatively little known, and it is a -subject of too much importance to attempt to deal with adequately in -small space. An enthusiastic critic claims that it includes the -artist's "absolute masterpieces," but I doubt if many would agree, -beautiful as some of these figures are. They show the same faculty of -apprehending a sudden revelation of beauty as is shown by the more -familiar landscapes, the same exquisite sense of graces in form and -colour, which elude the eyes of most of us. But it is still in landscape -that Corot is supreme. - -I have already stated my conviction that he was not greatly influenced -by other artists, his predecessors, or contemporaries. Perhaps -Constable, to mention but one name, helped to open his eyes, but once -open he used them as his own. Again, the classicism which surrounded him -in his youth left gentle memories that in his age were never quite -forgotten; but it was worn as sometimes an elderly gentleman wears a -bunch of seals, and had about as much to do with the essential -personality of the wearer. - -He was always true to himself. His equipment was simple faith, definite -purpose, and unflagging zeal. A clear eye, a dream-haunted brain, and a -great loving heart--that was Corot. - - -The plates are printed by BEMROSE & SONS, LTD., Derby and London - -The text at the BALLANTYNE PRESS, Edinburgh - - - -***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK COROT*** - - -******* This file should be named 41674.txt or 41674.zip ******* - - -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: -http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/4/1/6/7/41674 - - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, -set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to -copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to -protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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