Studio: international art (58.1913)

The Rouart Collection.— The Corots

mentioned he loved as a brother. This was then proof that Corot was equally personal in his Italian

the golden age for a man of the tastes of M. Rouart. pictures; and for my own part I never could

Each day he was accustomed to visit the Rue understand why these paintings should always have

Laffitte, at that time the centre for art and rare changed hands at prices so much inferior to those

objects of all kinds ; here he used to stop at the attained by the others. The figures of the Rouart

shop whose proprietor bore the well-known name sale would seem to have re-established the balance,

of Pere Martin. At this establishment M. Rouart The most beautiful of these Italian landscapes was

frequently encountered the artists just narffed, and entitled Tivoli, Villa d'lisle, and of this we give a re-

almost daily he took back home with him some production (p. 118). Here we have awork admirable

picture, sketch, or in composition

drawing chosen _ and painted with

by him with dis- an extremely rare
criminating good delicacy and
taste. He did not fluidity. Observe
collect works by how the painter
all contemporary has modelled the
artists, but pre- I | masses in the Pre-
ferred to devote ground, and how
himself to acquir- j^L«L * exquisitely in the
ing a number of background he
pictures by those } s- has depicted the
painters to whose Wf/' /■ ' ^^HB immensity of the
art he found him- Roman Cam-

tached. ture, which was

The great name 1BR$ $ A9B sold for 4000

of Corot is one of f ~..jf ..... "°V| francs in the

these particular | • jf ^jjj^^ata^lMsH Corot sale, rose

ones whose works WfflSB^^m t£hMB B to tne P"ce °f

dominated the HHHHJ^^ ""-•**»» %iH 111,000 francs

collection. Here ^BBlF*l&«iflS§!**^'c"v- ■^SBBi^P 'n the Rouart

this wonderful ^HP^flKflPB'* . ..m<9 sale. Besides this

painter was repre- HF " , •<i,! •, A work of premier

sented by no ' importance there

fewer than forty fJl^^B Htt^ MMKs&Bm was a whole series

paintings and of charming can-

an almost equal rafc. mt ■ vases, all of Italian

number of draw- Mm S& landscape, each

ings. It has never HH^^^^m^^^^^^*.---------"^K--J^^^^^"H one of which

been my good , „ made the stronc-

j b jeune femme blonde a la tunique claire °

fortune to see an- by j. b. c. corot est appeal by

other equally im- (Photoproem E. Druet) reason of the

portant ensemble personal note, the

of works by this master, and one above all which delightful quality of colour, and those beautiful

shows Corot so completely in all the divers phases bold and simple tones which characterise Corot's

of his art and in all those varied aspects which earliest manner. Among these I would place as

have been so well described and studied m the admir- being beyond compare the powerful souvenirs of

able article by M. Gustave Geffroy m The Studio I'He San Bartolommeo at Rome (sold for 51,000

Special Number on Corot and Millet. Hitherto francs); Vollerra, route descendant de la mile, a

the preference of art amateurs has been for those very picturesque vision, which fetched 20,000

Corots executed in his final manner, and in the francs ; Ro7?ie, la Vasque de FAcademie de France;

Roussel sale one of these works, entitled the Danse Le Velino ; Naples et le Chateau de IQLuf (29,500

sous les arbres, touched the record price of 310,000 francs); and Vue dePapigno (31,000 francs). Even

francs. But the Rouart Collection has afforded a in such a little sketch as Albano, Corot's palette
112