Houses Near Orleans by Corot in the Getty Center, June 2016

Title: Houses near Orléans (Maisons aux Environs d'Orléans)

Artist/Maker: Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (French, 1796 - 1875)

Culture: French

Date: about 1830

Medium: Oil on paper mounted on millboard

Dimensions: 28.6 × 38.6 cm (11 1/4 × 15 3/16 in.)

Markings: At lower right, the artist's estate sale stamp (Lugt 461) in red paint: "vente Corot"; on the verso of the millboard, the artist's estate sale stamp in red wax, and in black stencil: "Detrimont/Tableaux/Dorure/Rue Laffite 27 Paris."

Alternate Titles: Houses near Orléans (Display Title)

Department: Paintings

Classification: Paintings

Object Type: Painting

Object Number: 2002.35


A countryside path cuts across a mustard-yellow field and slopes downward toward a small village. Under a cloudless sky, crisp, strong sunlight brightens a zigzag row of roofs and chimneys. Contrasting shadows are cast from rooftop to rooftop. In the right foreground, a less sharply defined verdant mass balances the geometrical order of the architecture.

During the summer of 1830, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot left his native Paris and traveled in northern and central France. The oil study was most likely produced during this sojourn. Corot painted the view in the out-of-doors. Scholars believe this work was not intended for exhibition or sale nor did it serve as a preliminary study for a larger picture. Instead, it is likely the work remained in Corot's studio as an exploration of the effects of light and nature on geometric architectural forms.


Text from: www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/134031/jean-baptiste-camille-corot-houses-near-orleans-maisons-aux-environs-d'orleans-french-about-1830/