COROT, la.Vro'. JEAN BAPTISTE CAMILLE (1796-1875). A French landscape painter, born in Paris, July 29. 179G. His father was a hair dresser who married a milliner, and by shrewd management of her business gained a compe tence. Camille was educated in the college in Rouen, his father's home, and on his return to Paris he was apprenticed to a draper, in accord ance with his father's wishes. But trade had no Charms for him, and in the meanwhile he had acquired a taste for painting. After seven years of apprenticeship with the draper, he resolved to be a painter. His father made him an allowance, upon which Camille managed to sub sist until financial success crowned ins efforts. lie first stmlied with Mieballon, and upon the lat ter's death with Victor Bertin. a classicist and an apostle of the historical landscape. The years 1823 to 1827 he spent in Italy, and in the latter year he made his &but at the Salon with two Italian landscapes—a "View of Nand" and the "Campagna at Rome." Ile again went to Italy in 1834 and in 1842, besides traveling in France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and England. But the greater part of his life was passed in Paris and Ville d'Avray, in the forest of Fontainebleau and the valley of the Seine. In these places he found subjects for his most beautiful pictures.
It was some time before his works were recognized, but in his later life honors were heaped upon him. He received medals in 1833, 1855. and 1857; in 1846 he received the Cross of the Legion of Honor. and in 1857 lie was made a commander. The younger artists almost worshiped him, and in 1874 his friends gave him a gold medal to atone for the neglect of the Salon. Dealers sought his pictures, and it is said that in the time of his prosperity his income from sales alone amonnted to 200,000 francs a year. But Corot never cared for money except to help his friends, which he did with a lavish hand. Ile was gentle, jovial, and kind, and the figure of Pere Corot, in his blue blouse and woolen cap, with his long white hair and the in evitable pipe, brought joy and sunshine. lie
never married, but was devotedly attached to his sister and his mother. He died in Paris on Feb ruary 22. 1875.
Corot's art naturally falls into two periods, divided from each other by about the year 1843. During the first of these lie painted like the con temporary classicists, very detailed, with careful and severe drawing, but not without a certain charm of color. The influence of this classical training may be seen in the nymphs with which lie loved to people his landscapes, and the abso lute mastery over technique which we see in his second period. This may be said to have begun with his return from Italy in 1843, when he adopted the method of painting in the open air, which had been introduced from England by Constable and others. The works of this second period are the works from which we chiefly know him and which made him famous.
Corot was the great lyric poet of the Barbizon School, as Rousseau was the epic, and Dupl.& the dramatic. As Rousseau portrayed time strong and vivid side of nature—the oak. of all the trees. ihe plains. the hills, the river, and the forest—so Corot painted the tender, the wavering, the fend Mite side—the poplar, the birch, the willow, the wild flowers, sweet and shrinking. Be was a painter of the misty morning and of the shad owy evening, of time hazy springtime. A light mist or a haze of atmosphere usually envelops his pictures. As with Rousseau drawing was the most important. feature, so with Corot it was color. His pictures are always in a low key: browns, pale greens, and silvery grays are among his favorite colors, but in this sad setting the occasional touches of bright color appear all the more effective. The values of his colors are per fect, and above all each picture is an expression of deep sentiment—"the confusion of a beautiful soul." His works have well been called painted music, and it is no accident that he was himself a gifted musician.