Pictures of the Month | May 2010
Picture of the Month
June 2010
A Wooded Landscape with a Pond mid 1830s
Attributed to Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (1796-1875)
To coincide with the start of the new coarse fishing season on the inland waters of England and Wales from the 16th, Wooded Landscape with a Pond is our focus for ‘flaming June’ - a month when we all (hope to) pursue our favourite outdoor activities. Bathed in the summer heat, this bright quiet scene shows the still waters of a pond, reflecting in shimmering clarity, a luscious array of surrounding green foliage. Providing a measure of scale, a barely noticeable fisherman in blue with a straw hat crouches under the elegant curtains of dwarf willows on the farthest bank, stretching out a pole into the water. This muted hint of a human presence in the grotto-like oasis emphasises the silent, majestic solemnity and crystalline beauty of the landscape. The bleached rocks and the sun-drenched earth of nearby hills rise grandly behind, encasing the pond in secret seclusion. All is overarched by a clear pale blue sky, with just one or two wispy clouds drifting past.
Just as the sun in June can be elusive, this picture is likewise shrouded in a certain obscurity. It was purchased in 1940 as a genuine work by the leading landscape painter of the mid-19th-century French Barbizon school, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, but it is now believed to be by another unknown artist working in his style. Whilst it is signed ‘C.COROT’, the painting quality of Wooded Landscape does not live up to that which we associate with Corot himself - the false signature perhaps being added to ensure a sale. The location shown here is also not confirmed, though it is perhaps based on sketches Corot made at Le Martinet near Montpellier in southern France in 1836.
The Barber painting probably dates from the mid-1830s, and while it may not be by Corot, it displays some of his best qualities, and can be appreciated in its own right. A strong natural light, a restrained, palette of greens, greys and silvery blues, confident smoothly controlled brushwork, and a well thought-out composition are all hallmarks of Corot’s approach. Such characteristics infuse this picture with a clarity and poetic atmosphere which seem to be lifted directly from nature.
Regardless of your interest in fishing, and whether or not the sun blazes in the sky, Wooded Landscape opens a sunny window onto a peaceful solitude that should be soaked up throughout the year.
A free lunchtime gallery talk on this work will be held on Thursday 3rd June, at 1.30pm, in the Blue Gallery.
Kathryn Murray
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