COROT, JEAN-BAPTISTE CAMILLE French landscape painter, was born in Paris, in a house on the Quai by the rue du Bac, now demolished, on July 16, 1796. His parents kept a successful millinery establishment, and under Na poleon I. Madame Corot was court modiste. Thus, he never, throughout his life, felt the want of money. He was educated at Rouen and was afterwards apprenticed to a draper, but hated commercial life. He remained in it, however, until he was 26, when his father at last consented to his adopting the profession of art. With Victor Bertin as teacher, he was trained in the classicist tradition. He visited Italy on three occasions: in 1825, 1835 and 1843. On his return from his third journey he came under the influence of the Barbizon school and his eyes were opened to the beauty of French landscape. He was a regular contributor to the Salon during his lifetime, and in 1846 was "decorated" with the cross of the Legion of Honour. He was promoted to be officer in 1867. His many friends in 1874, only a short time before his death, presented him with a gold medal. He died in Paris on Feb. 22, 1875, and was buried at Pere Lachaise.
Of the painters classed in the Barbizon school (q.v.) Corot is the least realistic. He often painted landscapes from memory in his studio; his compositions are poems in tone-values. He pre ferred to paint in the hour of twilight, when all colours are merged into harmony.
Corot's works are somewhat arbitrarily divided into periods but the point of division is never certain, as he often completed a picture years after it had been begun. In his first style he painted with an eye to form and arrangement ; he is reported to have said : "Il ne faut laisser d'indecision dans aucune chose." ("Vue du Colosee," 1825; "Le pont de Narni," 1827; "Chartres cathedral," 183o). After his 5oth year his methods changed to breadth of tone and an approach to poetic power ("Dance of the Nymphs," 1849), and about 20 years later, say from 1865 onwards, his man ner of painting became full of "mystery" and poetry ("Le beffroi de Douai," 1871). In the last ten years of his life he became the Pere Corot of the artistic circles of Paris, in which he was regarded with personal affection. He earned large sums by his pictures, which became greatly sought after. In 1871 he gave L2,000 for the poor of Paris (where he remained during the siege), and his continued charity was long the subject of remark. Besides land scapes, of which he painted several hundred, Corot produced a number of figure pictures. These are mostly studio pieces. In his later work of this kind, which is now highly prized, he combined the simplified classical conception of form with a Rembrandtesque rendering of planes in colour remarkable for its strength and purity ("Femme a la Perle", 187o). Corot also executed a few etchings and pencil sketches. He also painted some decorative panels in the houses of his friends. At Mantes he composed six Italian land scapes for a small bathroom; at Ville d'Avray a similar decoration for a pavilion (1847). Here he also painted four frescoes for the church (1855). "The Baptism of Christ" in the church of St. Nicolas du Chardonnet at Paris (1844) is one of the few figure compositions of this master.
The works of Corot are scattered over France and the Nether lands, Great Britain and America. The following may be con sidered as the first half-dozen : "Une Matinee" (185o), in the Louvre, Paris; "Macbeth" (1859), in the Wallace collection, Lon don; "Le Lac" (1861) ; "L'Arbre brise" (1865) ; "Pastorale Souvenir d'Italie" (1873), in the Glasgow Corporation Art Gal lery; "Biblis" (1875). Corot had a number of followers who called themselves his pupils. The best known are Boudin, Lepine, Chintreuil, Francais and Le Roux.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.—H. Dumesnil, Souvenirs intimes (1875) ; G. Moore, Bibliography.—H. Dumesnil, Souvenirs intimes (1875) ; G. Moore, Ingres and Corot in Modern Painting (1893) ; A. Robaut, L'Oeuvre de Corot, catalogue raisonne et illustre, precede de l'histoire de Corot et de ses oeuvres par Etienne Moreau-Nelat on (1905) ; E. Meynell, Corot and His Friends (1908) ; C. Cornu, Corot. (i g i i) ; Etienne Moreau Nelaton, Le roman de Corot (1914) and Corot, raconte par lui-meme (1924) . See also Salon d'automne igog, Catal. p. 215 (Expos. retrosp. de figures de Corot). For Corot's etchings see Delteil, P. fr., ill. V. (IgIo).