DOI Heft:
No. 117 (November, 1906)
DOI Artikel:Halton, Ernest G.: The collection of Mr. Alexander Young, 1, The Corots
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.28250#0023
The Alexander Young Collection—/. The Corots
crowded ! Another twenty studies this year; five
or six of them are good, so I must be content
with that.” At the time of his death his studio was
full of canvases more or less unfinished. Conse-
quently it is often misleading to assign a picture to
any particular period, for parts of it were in all likeli-
hood painted twenty or even thirty years before
the whole was completed; and this is especially
the case when buildings are introduced into the
composition, as, for instance, in the Souvenir
d’Italie (p. 12), where the castle was probably the
result of one of the journeys which he made to
Italy during his earlier years, while the rest of the
composition, more especially the characteristic
trees, belongs undoubtedly to his later years. It
is therefore not always safe to assume that a work
which at first sight appears obviously to have been
painted during the latter half of the master’s life
belongs entirely to that period. Mr. Young had
in his collection several canvases which serve to
illustrate this point.
Of all the masterpieces by Corot in the collec-
tion the one which we consider best displays his
finest qualities is The Bent T7-ee (p. 3), painted
probably between 1855 and i860. The wonderful
gradation of tones in the trees and foreground, the
subtle beauty of the distant view, the massing and
treatment of the trees against the luminous sky—
all these could belong only to Corot. The com-
position is superb, while the colour-scheme shows
the artist’s usual dignified restraint. But it is the
poetry and rhythm in the picture which appeal
most to the beholder, and for that reason the full
extent of its beauties cannot be realised at once;
indeed we know of no other Corot which has more
reserve. It is a small picture, about 24 ins. by
16 ins. The collection contains another canvas
similar in arrangement, but it is an evening effect.
Another important composition has two render-
ings in the collection, called respectively Souvenir
de Riva—Evening Glow (p. 17) and The Fisher-
man (p. 20). The former is rich in colour and the
“ LE COUP DE VENT”
BY J. B. C. COROT
crowded ! Another twenty studies this year; five
or six of them are good, so I must be content
with that.” At the time of his death his studio was
full of canvases more or less unfinished. Conse-
quently it is often misleading to assign a picture to
any particular period, for parts of it were in all likeli-
hood painted twenty or even thirty years before
the whole was completed; and this is especially
the case when buildings are introduced into the
composition, as, for instance, in the Souvenir
d’Italie (p. 12), where the castle was probably the
result of one of the journeys which he made to
Italy during his earlier years, while the rest of the
composition, more especially the characteristic
trees, belongs undoubtedly to his later years. It
is therefore not always safe to assume that a work
which at first sight appears obviously to have been
painted during the latter half of the master’s life
belongs entirely to that period. Mr. Young had
in his collection several canvases which serve to
illustrate this point.
Of all the masterpieces by Corot in the collec-
tion the one which we consider best displays his
finest qualities is The Bent T7-ee (p. 3), painted
probably between 1855 and i860. The wonderful
gradation of tones in the trees and foreground, the
subtle beauty of the distant view, the massing and
treatment of the trees against the luminous sky—
all these could belong only to Corot. The com-
position is superb, while the colour-scheme shows
the artist’s usual dignified restraint. But it is the
poetry and rhythm in the picture which appeal
most to the beholder, and for that reason the full
extent of its beauties cannot be realised at once;
indeed we know of no other Corot which has more
reserve. It is a small picture, about 24 ins. by
16 ins. The collection contains another canvas
similar in arrangement, but it is an evening effect.
Another important composition has two render-
ings in the collection, called respectively Souvenir
de Riva—Evening Glow (p. 17) and The Fisher-
man (p. 20). The former is rich in colour and the
“ LE COUP DE VENT”
BY J. B. C. COROT