His landscapes have often been criticised be cause of their but they are only simi lar in theme; the treatment is infinitely varied. It has also been urged that his works are too even; that they do not contain certain acid tones and little defects which are found in nature and add to the effect of the picture. Such blemishes might indeed have made Ins work more realistic, but they would not have harmonized with the softness and delicacy of effect, which it was his chief effort to obtain. As regards the figures which usually form a part of his picture, whether they be nymphs and goddesses or French peasants, they rather heighten the effect of the landscape than otherwise, and with it they are always in perfect harmony. So great was his technical ability and so vivid his imagination, that his usual method was to paint his works iu his studio from sketches and notes taken from nature.
Corot has left a large number of works on a great variety of subjects. During his early period he painted many Italian landscapes, and even religious subjects. Of these landscapes there are two goal which he himself be queathed to the Museum of the Luxembourg, Paris, viz. the "Roman Forum" and "The Coli seum." Of his religious pictures The "Baptism of Christ," in the Church of Saint Nicolas du Char donnet in Paris, is a good specimen. The land seapes of his later are incomparably his best works. Among the best known is the "Dance
of the Nymphs," in the Luxembourg Gallery, a fresh morning scone of a peculiar blue tone, and the incomparable "Paysage," in the same collec tion, showing his marvelous treatment. of a lake with overhanging foliage. There are many other good examples in the museums and private col lections of France. and not a few in America. The Metropolitan Museum in New York pos sesses in the "Ville d'Avray" a fine specimen of C'orot's dainty treatment of water. foliage, and distant buildings in the early morning light. The faint rose of the sky suggests the coming dawn, awl the touches of yellow and blue in the garb of the woman lend a soft brightness to the scene. There are other good examples in the Corcoran Gallery at Washington, in the Art Institute of Chicago, and in the private collec tions of Philadelphia. But not until the cen tenary exhibition in Paris in 1889 did men know what modern art Possessed in Corot—"the greatest poet and the tenderest soul of the nine teenth century." Consult: :thither. History of Modern. Art (London, 18961 Stranaban, History of French Painting (New York, 1899) ; Robinson, "Th. Corot," in Van Dyke's _I/of/cm French Masters (New York, 1896) Blanc. Les artistes de mon CM pa (Paris. 1879) : Roger-Miles, "Corot," in Les artistes ce-W.bres (Paris. 1891) ; Rousseau, Camille Corot (Paris, 1884). .