Recollections of Mortefontaine 1864

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (1796-1875) began his carer as a draper, before deciding to pursue atistic training. He traveled widely throughout his life- on his trips he made numerous oil sketches and plein air paintings capturing the immediacy of light and atmosphere, while also working on exhibition-style paintings within the studio. Souvenir de Mortefontaine is one of the best paintings from his late career, and is bathed in a soft, diffuse light. It is a work of utter tranquility, the epitome of a lyrical and poetic assimilation of the artist's world. The scene is not taken from nature, but combines key elements of the natural setting to create the perfect, harmonious image. The graceful tree in the foreground, the expanse of stil water behind and quiet figures picked out in soft color were motifs used often by the artist to render a work of beautiful, quiet reflection. Working at first along the lines of the Realists, Corot's style developed to encompass a dreamy, Romantic perception. As such, his work can be considered something of a bridge between the Realis and the Impressionists, and indeed he is often refered to as the father of Impressionism.