Jean Baptiste Camille Corot’s paintings are some of the most beautiful and thought-provoking paintings in all of art. Unfortunately, his legacy is somewhat overshadowed by the great Impression and Expressionist painters who came after him; however, it is partly thanks to Jean Baptiste that these movements even exist.
Corot’s importance as a forefather in the artistic revolution from traditional models to more modern ways of thinking cannot be understated. He was also one of the first mainstream painters at the time to fully embrace the Plein Air (painting outdoors) approach to his work.
Baptiste loved painting on the frontlines of nature instead of in his studio, and this deep appreciation of the natural world shines through in all of his impeccable landscape paintings. He is best known for these epic works of nature; however, he was also a master in many other regards.
The Boatman on the Mortefontaine
As the French artist’s style matured, he began applying more of an Impressionist philosophy and style of painting to his art. These emotionally inspired paintings result in the feelings a painting can invoke in a viewer as the primary motivation for painting the scene.
This differs from the Neo-Classical and Renaissance ideals, which placed realistic replication of the scene and conveyed a message as their top priorities. For Corot, artistic expression was all about human emotion. Baptiste did not want to recreate a scene merely but rather to leave a lasting emotional impression on the viewer.
In The Boatman On The Mortefontaine, Corot’s Pre-Impressionist motivations are clearly present. The mood and tone of the masterpiece are melancholy, yet there is magically contained within also. The silent sway of the trees as the boat workers tend their craft says more about the emotions of the human condition than a thousand words of poetry. It is a perfect example of a picture saying a thousand words.
Hagar in the Wilderness
Neo-Classical principles and practices heavily influenced the style and subject matter of Jean Baptiste Camille Corot’s paintings. However, despite vastly evolving his style over time, Corot was trained in the traditional ways of a fine artist, and these fundamentals stayed with him throughout his career.
Of all the themes popular in the Neo-Classical period, Jean Baptiste was particularly interested in those Myths and Legends. The artist was seemingly fascinated and inspired by these epic tales, and regularly incorporated them into his painting cycle.
Hagar in the Wilderness was one of Corot’s first acclaimed paintings involving a mythological context. It depicts the biblical story of Hagar, an Egyptian slave who wandered in the wilderness with Abraham and the other freed Jewish slaves. As it is one of Corot’s first major paintings, its composition is much more based on Realism than in his later artwork.
Orpheus leaving Eurydice
Orpheus leading Eurydice is another of Jean Baptiste’s most well-known and iconic works with a mythological theme. It is one of the paintings that made Jean Baptiste a famous painter and is regarded as one of his best paintings, with all his idiosyncrasies and ideals as a painter on full display.
In Orpheus’s leading Eurydice, Jean Baptiste’s three favorite painting subjects are blended together in a perfect balance. The solemn mood felt in the forest as Eurydice is being led from the Underworld embodies the Impressionist movement perfectly.
Like a true Impressionist painter, Corot painted the story of Eurydice several times over. Just like Monet or Van Gogh’s work, the beauty of Jean Baptiste art lies in each retelling of the same scene unveils a completely different tale, and when viewed together in totality, they become one epic narration piece.
Interrupted Reading – Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot
Interrupted Reading
Besides being remembered for his enthralling landscape environments and mythological marvels, Jean Baptiste Camille was also an emotional enigma in portrait and figure painting. This is a genre of art where the piece’s main subject is depicting a single person or group.
Corot dedicated much of his art to portrait painting, and although he is most known for his landscapes, he evenly shared his time between landscape, portrait, and mythology/religious painting. When it came to portrait painting, just like many other famous artists, Jean Baptiste particularly adored painting women.
Just like some of his other paintings, Interrupted Reading is a subject that the Frenchman would repeatedly paint. He dedicated many works of art to women reading and engaging in other daily mundanities, transforming them into emotionally moving masterpieces that somehow capture the essence of what life is all about.
The Curious Little Girl
The Curious Little Girl is one of Jean Baptiste Camille Corot’s most controversial paintings. For starters, it is one painting in his collection that doesn’t have an official date. Art historians have confirmed that it was painted sometime between 1850 and 1860; however, due to its highly stylized Impressionist aspects, some have speculated that it was painted after 1870.
The painting itself is also somewhat controversial and contested. Many see it as the cornerstone of Corot’s shift into Impressionism, while others debate this, hence the dating issue. Nevertheless, the painting is neither a portrait nor a landscape painting; instead, the focus is fully on the feelings and emotions the image of the little girl induces.
To many people, the Curious Little Girl represents the completion of the metamorphosis into Impressionism that would take over the world of art in the years following Corot’s death. Like all his paintings, it is hauntingly beautiful and deeply emotional.
The Curious Little Girl – Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot
Conclusion
Famous French painter Jean Baptiste Camille Corot holds a special place in art history. His art and painting style is like a bridge linking the old ideas of art with the new. His artistic story is innovative, and his legacy shaped the entire modern art movement.
