FEBRUARY 13–MAY 16, 2021

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (French, 1796–1875) was trained in the Neoclassical tradition of landscape painting, which held that the most artistically significant landscapes were those populated by historical, mythological, or Biblical figures. Throughout his career, Corot favored mythical scenes and pastoral idylls, even as his contemporaries turned increasingly to the painting of modern life. He developed a style that infused his conservative subject matter with the improvisational quality of his outdoor sketches, creating landscapes at once transitory and timeless.

Corot’s exposure to cliché-verre came at a pivotal moment in his career, when he was turning away from the stylistic constraints of Neoclassical painting. His clichés-verre, in which he fluidly interpreted the themes and compositions of his paintings, are experiments in gestural freedom. Corot became a lifelong adherent of the technique, producing sixty-six plates over two decades.