When I was in college at Wichita State University, majoring in advertising design, I had a complete lack of interest in art history. I wanted to be an illustrator and considered art history of little value to a would be contemporary illustrator. I so dreaded the mandatory college class on the subject, and it was made worse by the dry, humorless teaching of Dr. John Simoni. Looking back today, Simoni reminds me of the authoritarian, metronomic, rule-keeping college president portrayed in the “Dead Poets Society” movie…that was until he introduced me to Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot. (Just bear in mind, these are the impressions of a stupid art student from 58 years ago. Impressions are just that, true or false). Click images to enlarge
Camille Corot – “Self Portrait, Palette in Hand” – 13.39″ x 9.76″ – Oil (1840)
I was so captivated by Corot’s paintings that my class term paper was about…guess who?
From my paper…”He painted just as he pleased, propounding no set theories in opposition to others, making no belligerent pronouncements, living the eighty years of his life so quietly and paintings so modestly that it is a great surprise to discover just how much influence he really had. He never allowed himself to be led by a group or a movement. Romanticism and Classicism dominated landscape painting of the time, and although he felt he was closer to the Classical movement in spirit, he remained completely independent, and was often attacked for doing so. He was guided by an inherent non-conformism and even more by his love of nature.” (This doesn’t sound like the writings of a 21-year old, I must have copied it from a book.)
But, here I am, sitting here many years later with an 1889 edition of The Art Journal. Published in London by J.S. Virtue & Co. Limited, this thick seven pound 13″x 10.5″ volume is elegant in its writing, beauty, quality of printing, and fine art reproductions
While in England many years ago visiting family, I stumbled upon three editions of The Art Journal in my uncle’s house. To me, it was like finding a precious gemstone on the beach. Expressing my delight in discovering these books, my uncle kindly offered them to me. They are the most cherished of my art books.
What caught my attention in this volume was an article about Monsieur Corot, by Mr. R.A.M. Stevenson, and I want to share some of his comments from the article.
The most important Victorian magazine about art in England was the Art Union Monthly Journal, founded in 1839 by Hodgson & Graves. In 1848, Mr. George C. Virtue purchased the magazine and renamed it The Art Journal. The journal eventually became the premier art publication in Great Britain, and by the time he retired in 1855, Mr. Virtue had published more than 20,000 copper and steel engravings of various works of art.
The journal became known for its honest portrayal of fine art. Under the editorship of Samuel Hall, the journal exposed the profits that custom-houses were earning from the import of Old Masters, particularly of Raphael and Titian, that were actually fakes…having been manufactured in England. In their desire to alert people to these misrepresented works, they created much skepticism and caution among the buying public which in turn greatly affected the art market.
I think it interesting that The Art Journal took a strong stand against fakes in the art market, and yet, one of my very favorite artists, Monsieur Corot, probably has more fake copies of his paintings in the world than most. I’m sure the journal would have been repulsed by that fact. Early on, the journal strongly supported The Clique, a group of English artists that rejected Academic high art in favor of genre painting. They felt the academic ideals had become stagnant and believed art should be judged by the public, not by its conformity to some academic standard.
James Sprent Virtue picked up publishing duties after his father’s retirement, but by 1880, the journal faced strong competition from the Magazine of Art and changing public taste, influenced by Impressionism. The Art Journal was last published in 1912.
“View of Rome from the Farnese Gardens, Morning” – 9.65″ x 15.8″ – Oil (1926)
Another reason I like Corot is because he got a late start, age 26…and I relate to that.
“The Church at Lormes” – 13.5″ x 18″ – Oil (1840)
“The Roman Countryside” – 51.18″ x 65.94″ – Oil (1830)
Corot was a great man in a great century. He broke new ground both as a picture-maker, and as an observer of facts…and now, let’s hear what Mr. Stevenson has to say, quoted from his article of 1889:
“I think Corot’s marvelously clear good sense, his long course of early carefulness, the slow growth of his style, and, above all, its sole foundation on nature, prevented him, when he once attained the expression of his own ideas, from ever feeling that doubt of his style and that uneasy wish to turn back and see if nothing has been left behind.”
“First Leaves Near Nantes” – Oil (1855)
“Corot was conscientious in his purpose of modelling the large masses perfectly, and of suggesting the smaller detail only so far as he could do it without sacrifice of what is greater.”
“Rome View from the Farnese Gardens, Noon” – 11.81″ x 19.29″ – Oil (1926)
“Some have argued that Corot lacked the gift of colour, proclaiming him merely a “tonist”. That belief is a total misapprehension of the aims and merits of modern painting. People who cannot call a man a colorist unless he knocks them on the head with red, blue, and yellow, are, of course, justified in their taste, though wrong in their principles of criticism.”
“Corot was quite sincere in his intention to render the open air, and surely no one denies the reality of open air colours, or that they are as beautiful, subtle, varied as the pigments in a colour box or the stuffs in a draper’s shop.”
“Corot works on a composition made of broad, simply arranged, large masses. These he surrounds and overlays with a lovely lace-work of light branches and floating leaves.”
“The Park of Monsieur Wallet at Voisinlieu” – 13.46″ x 20.47″ – Oil (1866)
“So much for Corot’s realism; there is also a decorative beauty in his art, consonant with, and, to my mind, inseparable from, his view of the world. One dare not say how much of his beauty is, as it were, realism sublimed. Your eye embraces his pictures in their entirety and nothing distracts or worries the attention. A great part of this unity, this harmony, comes from his logical and consistent rendering of atmosphere, the result of his most unusually complete grasp of the field of vision as a whole. Yet we may detect a residuum that is pure style distinguished from observation of nature.”
****************************************************
You are invited to follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and my YouTube channel. There you will find lots of informative and instructive content.
*****************************************************
***If you would like to receive this weekly blog automatically, please complete the simple form on the bottom right of this page. To receive my monthly newsletter complete the form on the top right. Thank You.
I’m pleased to offer both of my instructional videos and book as a complete set. They may also be purchased individually. All are best sellers and include everything I’ve taught in my workshops. You can now take my oil painting workshop right in the comfort of your home, and for a lot less money than physically being present. (Click image to learn more)
And Now…A new video…Just released
(Click image for all the details)
For those that have purchased the book, I invite you to join our new Facebook Group – “Limited Palette Unlimited Color”. If you qualify, I hope you’ll join us. Check us out on Facebook. HERE is the link.
******************************************
John Pototschnik is an Art Renewal Center Living Master. To view his art and bio, please click HERE
