The Ferryman c. 1865

Camille Corot painted this evocative waterside scene with oil on canvas. The visible brushstrokes and muted palette create a sense of immediacy, as if capturing a fleeting moment in nature. Corot's technique emphasizes the material qualities of paint itself. The varied textures – from the thin washes of the sky to the more thickly applied foliage – create depth and atmosphere, which is no easy task! The human figures are secondary in importance, but they do imply narratives of labor and local life. The ferryman himself is captured in the midst of his physical toil; his work is not so different from that of the painter. Corot's work reminds us that painting, like any craft, requires skill, labor, and a deep understanding of materials. The blurred boundary between craft and art encourages us to appreciate the work involved in making the art, and the way he captured the landscape with his brush.