Follower of Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, 'Seascape with Figures on Cliffs', 1890s
About the work
Overview
This small painting of a girl in blue and a woman in a black coat standing on cliffs as they look out to sea was previously titled View over the Mediterranean. However, it has recently been proposed that this is a view of Trouville in Normandy, which was a popular destination for various artists including Boudin and Monet.
Although Corot went to Normandy three times in his early career, and also regularly visited the area towards the end of his life, it is unlikely that he painted this picture. Despite some similarity with his later Normandy paintings, the picture has little in common stylistically with known works by Corot and lacks the quality of his work. The absence of interaction between the two people on the shore and the rather crude painting in some areas, especially the sea, suggests this is instead the work of a follower or student of Corot.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- Seascape with Figures on Cliffs
- Artist
- Follower of Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot
- Artist dates
- 1796 - 1875
- Date made
- 1890s
- Medium and support
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 21.6 × 36.8 cm
- Acquisition credit
- Presented by the Misses Rachel F. and Jean I. Alexander; entered the Collection, 1972
- Inventory number
- NG6416
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Frame
- 18th-century French Frame
Provenance
Bought from the French Gallery by William Cleverly Alexander (1840–1916) at an unspecified date; by descent to the Misses Rachel F. and Jean I. Alexander, who presented it by deed of gift to the National Gallery in 1959; it entered the collection in 1972; at the time of acquisition NG 6461 was evidently considered the better of the two Corots in the Alexander collection: ‘Notes on the Alexander Pictures which seem more or less desirable: Sitting Room, 1, 2 small sketches. 1 [NG 6416] is more attractive but apparently not supported by references. 2 has vente Corot but is less interesting (Ville d’Avray).’
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Sarah Herring, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Nineteenth Century French Paintings’, vol. 1, ‘The Barbizon School’, London 2019; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Bibliography
-
1972A. Smith, 'Presented by the Misses Rachel F. and Jean I. Alexander: Seventeen Paintings for the National Gallery', The Burlington Magazine, CXIV, 1972, pp. 630-4
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1973The National Gallery, The National Gallery: January 1971 - December 1972, London 1973
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1994A. Tapié, A. Corbin and A. Frémont, Désir de rivage, de Granville à Dieppe: Le Littoral normand vu par les peintres entre 1820 et 1945 (exh. cat., Musée des Beaux-Arts, Caen), Caen 1994
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1996V. Pomarède, 'Corot Forgeries: Is the Artist Responsible?', in Corot, New York 1996, pp. 383-96
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1997Paris, Cabinet des Estampes, Bibliothèque Nationale: Corot: A. Robaut, Tableaux Faux, 1997
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2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
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2019Herring, Sarah, National Gallery Catalogues: The Nineteenth Century French Paintings, 1, The Barbizon School, London 2019
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.
Images
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