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Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot - The Evening Star - Walters 37154
Summary
In the 1850s, Corot began to paint works that he sometimes referred to as "souvenirs," in which he tried not only to record his visual experience of a site but also to convey the sensations it evoked. Corot was inspired to paint this poetic composition after listening to a young woman singing verses from Alfred de Musset's poem "The Willow: A Fragment" (1830), in which the evening star is hailed as a distant messenger.
After watching Corot paint a much larger version of the subject (now in the Musée des Augustins in Toulouse, France), William T. Walters commissioned this smaller variation. It differs slightly from the artist's initial conception in its looser brushwork and duskier sky.
Born in Paris, Corot trained as a draper before deciding to pursue art. He studied under several prominent artists, including Jean-Victor Bertin and Achille Etna Michallon. Corot is best known for his landscape paintings, which often feature soft, hazy atmospheres and delicate, muted colours. He was particularly interested in capturing the effects of light and atmosphere in his work. Corot's style was influenced by both the classical landscape tradition and the Romantic movement. In addition to his landscapes, Corot also painted portraits and figure studies. He was a prolific artist, producing over 3,000 paintings during his lifetime. Corot's work was not always well received by critics during his lifetime, but he gained recognition and popularity in the later years of his career. He is now regarded as one of the most important French landscape painters of the 19th century.
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