DOI issue:
No. 240 (March 1913)
DOI article:Frantz, Henri: The Rouart collection, [1]: the Corots
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21160#0142
The Rouart Collection.—The Corots
La femme en bleu, being purchased by the Louvre
for 162,000 francs. The price of course matters
little and I only quote it as an item of information
for such of my readers as may be interested ; what
does matter is the beauty of the work, and it must
be admitted that this was a very fine production of
the master. I am willing to admit that all Corot's
figures are not equal to this one in quality, for
some indeed are a little careless in form. These,
however, should, I think, be regarded merely as
studies made by the master for his own use—as
rapid notes executed for his personal pleasure and
which he never would have thought of presenting as
finished productions. But leaving such aside, what
a number of beautiful works there are still to be
remembered, precious works, alas ! now scattered
and for ever dispersed according to the whim and
caprice of sales and auction-rooms. Such a one
was the Jeune femme blonde a la tunique claire (50,000
francs) reproduced on p. u 2, in which the face
is so astoundingly well modelled and gives so faith-
ful an impression of life ; or again the Bretomie
allaitant son enfant (21,700 francs); the Bolicmienne
reveuse (14,000 francs); the Dame assise de face, les
cheveux sur les epaides; the Paysanne a la chemise
blanche; and that noble allegorical figure La
Poesie.
While we recognise with joy that the Rouart
Collection has been the apotheosis of the great
Corot, we cannot but feel an undercurrent of
profound regret that this wonderful ensemble of
works should have been for ever broken up and
dispersed. Certainly it is true that the Louvre
has been fortunate in acquiring a fine painting and
several drawings, but these amount in reality to
merely a sample, as it were, of a unique collection.
Only think of the interest there would have been in
preserving the unity of a group of more than sixty
paintings, sketches, and drawings by this master ot
Ville-d'Avray, an harmonious ensemble formed by
one man who shared to some extent the life of the
painter and who knew him better than any one!—
but I realise that one must not ask of the State
such a great sacrifice, any more than one may ask
of all collectors or their heirs the generosity of a
Moreau Nelaton, who presented to the nation a
collection of inestimable value.
At any rate, all lovers of art will have drawn
a precious lesson from the sight of this magnificent
group. But the lesson afforded us by these works
of Corot is by no means unique. Other ensembles
in the Rouart Collection demand equal attention,
and these we shall study in succeeding articles.
H. F.
La femme en bleu, being purchased by the Louvre
for 162,000 francs. The price of course matters
little and I only quote it as an item of information
for such of my readers as may be interested ; what
does matter is the beauty of the work, and it must
be admitted that this was a very fine production of
the master. I am willing to admit that all Corot's
figures are not equal to this one in quality, for
some indeed are a little careless in form. These,
however, should, I think, be regarded merely as
studies made by the master for his own use—as
rapid notes executed for his personal pleasure and
which he never would have thought of presenting as
finished productions. But leaving such aside, what
a number of beautiful works there are still to be
remembered, precious works, alas ! now scattered
and for ever dispersed according to the whim and
caprice of sales and auction-rooms. Such a one
was the Jeune femme blonde a la tunique claire (50,000
francs) reproduced on p. u 2, in which the face
is so astoundingly well modelled and gives so faith-
ful an impression of life ; or again the Bretomie
allaitant son enfant (21,700 francs); the Bolicmienne
reveuse (14,000 francs); the Dame assise de face, les
cheveux sur les epaides; the Paysanne a la chemise
blanche; and that noble allegorical figure La
Poesie.
While we recognise with joy that the Rouart
Collection has been the apotheosis of the great
Corot, we cannot but feel an undercurrent of
profound regret that this wonderful ensemble of
works should have been for ever broken up and
dispersed. Certainly it is true that the Louvre
has been fortunate in acquiring a fine painting and
several drawings, but these amount in reality to
merely a sample, as it were, of a unique collection.
Only think of the interest there would have been in
preserving the unity of a group of more than sixty
paintings, sketches, and drawings by this master ot
Ville-d'Avray, an harmonious ensemble formed by
one man who shared to some extent the life of the
painter and who knew him better than any one!—
but I realise that one must not ask of the State
such a great sacrifice, any more than one may ask
of all collectors or their heirs the generosity of a
Moreau Nelaton, who presented to the nation a
collection of inestimable value.
At any rate, all lovers of art will have drawn
a precious lesson from the sight of this magnificent
group. But the lesson afforded us by these works
of Corot is by no means unique. Other ensembles
in the Rouart Collection demand equal attention,
and these we shall study in succeeding articles.
H. F.