Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot

Jean–Baptiste–Camille Corot was an important figure in the development of 19th century French landscape painting. His pioneering approach to landscapes bridged Neoclassicism and Impressionism, with Corot known for his atmospheric works that played with light and mood.

Born in Paris in 1796, Corot was raised in a prosperous household, which gave him the freedom to pursue his passion for painting. Though he originally started work in his family's textile business, he turned to art in his mid-20s. Corot initially studied with the landscape painters Achille Etna Michallon and Jean-Victor Bertin, who were both rooted in the classical tradition.

Corot preferred plein-air painting, where he would make his work outdoors, sometimes in the very landscapes he was depicting. This practice influenced younger artists like Pissarro and Monet, and anticipated the later prominence of this style of painting by Impressionists.

In 1825 to 1828, Corot made a formative trip to Italy, where he studied the masters of the Italian Renaissance and produced work which was more naturalistic. In the winter months, he worked in his studio and produced larger paintings that were exhibited at the Paris Salon, such as View of Narni (1827). Corot began to see success in the years following this, with the French government purchasing his work Le Petit Berger (Little Shepherd) for the state collection in 1840.

From the 1850s, Corot started to create more lyrical, romantic landscapes. This softer style was characterised by the use of grey–green tones and a silvery light within his work. Known as souvenirs, Corot produced dreamlike recollections of real landscapes, based on memories rather than a true depiction of an area. These works, such as Souvenir de Mortefontaine (1864), helped establish Corot’s reputation as a master of mood and light. Alongside these more mythological and romantic landscapes, Corot also made expressive portraits and etchings.

Corot's artworks are included in global collections, such as the Louvre in Paris, the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET) in New York and the National Gallery in London. His work was also admired by his fellow artists, with Monet remarking in 1897: ‘there is only one master here — Corot. We are nothing to him, nothing.’