Canal in Picardy

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Canal in Picardy

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

Place of OriginFrance

Dateabout 1865-1871

Dimensions18 3/8 × 24 1/4 in. (46.7 × 61.6 cm)
Frame: 77.5 × 92.1 × 10.8 cm (30 1/2 × 36 1/4 × 4 1/4 in.)

Mediumoil on canvas

ClassificationPaintings

Credit LineGift of Arthur J. Secor

Object number

1922.20

Not on View

Label TextFrench painter Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot’s The Canal in Picardy depicts a wistful, idyllic scene of springtime in the northern French region of Picardy. It is probably located near the towns of Douai and Arras, an area interlaced by canals which Corot often visited between 1865 and 1871. The spot suited his penchant for creating hazy and subdued landscapes in a poetic style. In the midst of the diffuse lighting and “soft-focus” shapes of the countryside, three rural figures go about their work in the delicate shade of three tall birch trees. The male figure on the far left holds perhaps a farm implement, while the female figure in the center crouches down at the edge of the canal as another figure looks on. Corot was the leading French landscape painter of his time.Published ReferencesRobaut, A., and E. Moreau-Nélaton, L'oeuvre de Corot, Paris, 1905, III, no. 1743, repr. (as 1865-1870).

Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, no. 41, April 1922, repr.

Godwin, Blake-More, Catalogue of European Paintings, Toledo, 1939, p. 182, repr. p. 183.

Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, no. 95A, Sept. 1941, repr.

Grosser, M., Critic's Eye, Indianapolis, 1962, pp. 168-169.

Sutton, D., "Nineteenth Century Painting: Trends and Cross-Currents," Apollo, vol. 86, Dec. 1967, p. 488, repr. fig. 5.

Toledo Museum of Art, The Toledo Museum of Art, European Paintings, Toledo, 1976, p. 40, pl. 220.

Morse, John D., Old Master Paintings in North America, New York, 1979, p. 44.

Eisenman, Stephen F. (ed.), From Corot to Monet: the ecology of Impressionism, Rome, Skira, 2010, pp. 17,19,144, and 145, repr. (col.).

Molnos, Peter, ed., Lost Heritage: Hungarian Art Collectors in the Twentieth Century, Budapest, Kieselbach Gallery, 2018, repr. (col.) p. 221.

Exhibition HistoryBudapest, Collection Marczell de Nemes, 1911.

Düsseldorf, Städtisches Kunsthalle, Die Sammlung des Kgl. Rates Marczell de Nemes - Budapest, 1912, no. 96, repr. (drawing by A. Robaut).

Saginaw, MI, Saginaw Museum, 1951.

Chicago, Chicago Art Institute, Corot, 1960, no. 104, repr.

New York, Wildenstein, Corot, 1969, no. 52, repr.

Manchester, NH, Currier Gallery of Art; New York, IBM Gallery of Science and Art; Dallas, Dallas Museum of Art; Atlanta, High Museum of Art, The Rise of Landscape Painting in France: Corot to Manet, 1991-1992, no. 36, p. 116 (exhibited in Dallas and Atlanta only).

Rome, Complesso Monumentale del Vittoriano, From Corot to Monet: the Ecology of Impressionism, Mar. 6- June 29, 2010, no. 13, pp. 17, 26, 144, repr. p. 19, repr. (col.) p. 145.