COROT SAID THAT HE KEPT A COPY OF ALL HIS WORKS in his eyes and in his heart. This remark sums up for us the essence of the artist's genius--his gift for seeing and for capturing the emotional quality of what he saw.

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (1795-1875) was one of the greatest artists of the nineteenth century. In the major museums of the world, people stand entranced before his silvery,poetic landscapes, his quiet, portraitlike studies of pensive women, the miraculously serene and tender renderings of nature and persons in his prints and lithographs.

COROT SAID THAT HE KEPT A COPY OF ALL HIS WORKS in his eyes and in his heart. This remark sums up for us the essence of the artist's genius--his gift for seeing and for capturing the emotional quality of what he saw.

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (1795-1875) was one of the greatest artists of the nineteenth century. In the major museums of the world, people stand entranced before his silvery,poetic landscapes, his quiet, portraitlike studies of pensive women, the miraculously serene and tender renderings of nature and persons in his prints and lithographs.

In a life totally devoted to art, Corot traveled from Paris,where he was born, to every corner of France, to Italy (three times), and even to Holland, Switzerland, and England. In all these places he produced outdoor painting that is unequaled in its blending of lyrical beauty and fidelity to the scene. But Corot's was a talent of great diversity, and he was also a master of figure painting.

The painting of the later nineteenth century and of our own time is full of Corot's influence. His supremacy in the art of rendering outdoor light was recognized by the Impressionists,and his figure paintings set a standard for Degas, Renoir, and even Picasso. And yet success in the form of recognition came late to Corot. He was twenty-six when he embarked on the study of art, and he was in his fifties when his greatness was widely acknowledged.

Through good times and hard, Corot continued to paint;he welcomed success when it came only because it enabled him to be even more generous to less fortunate friends and colleagues.

In this volume, a noted French art historian--aided by 92 magnificent illustrations, 40 in full color--tells the story of Corot's life and of the development of his art. Madeleine Hours, as Conservateur en Chef at the Louvre, in Paris, where many of Corot's works are on view, brings to her subject exceptional knowledge and insight.

JEAN-BAPTISTE-CAMILLE COROT by Madeleine Hours

COLORPLATES

YOUNG GIRL WITH BERET Musee des Beaux-Arts, Lille

THE FORUM SEEN FROM THE FARNESE GARDENS The Louvre, Paris

LE PONT DE NARNI National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa

CHARTRES CATHEDRAL The Louvre, Paris. Collection Moreau-Nelaton

MLLE ALEXINA LEDOUX The Louvre, Paris

LA CERVARA Kunsthaus, Zurich

THE PONT-AU-CHAND THE PALAIS DE JUSTICE Private collection, New York

view OF GENOA FROM THE PROMENADE OF ACQUA SOLA The Art Institute of Chicago

SELF-PORTRAIT WITH PALETTE Uffizi, Florence

HAGAR IN THE WILDERNESS The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Rogers Fund, z938

CHATEAU DE ROSNY The Louvre, Paris

LA MARIETTA Musee du Petit Palais, Paris

GARDENS OF THE VILLA D'ESTE AT TIVOLI The Louvre, Paris

BELL-TOWER OF THE CHURCH OF SAINT-PATERNE AT ORLEANS Musee des Beaux-Arts, Strasbourg

HOMER AND THE SHEPHERDS Musee Municipal, Saint-L6

PORTRAIT OF MME CHARMOIS The Louvre, Paris

FOREST OF FONTAINEBLEAU Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Gift of Mrs. Samuel Dennis Warren

THE FAIR MAID OF GASCONY (LA BELLE GASCONNE) Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Mass.

MORNING: DANCE OF THE NYMPHS The Louvre, Paris

THE PORT OF LA ROCHELLE Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven

SAINT SEBASTIAN The Louvre, Paris

MUR (COTES-DU-NORD) John G. Johnson Collection, Philadelphia

RECLINING NYMPH Musee d'Art et d'Histoire, Geneva

THE MOTHER SUPERIOR OF THE CONVENT OF THE ANNONCIADES The Louvre, Paris

MAURICE ROBERT AS A CHILD The Louvre, Paris

THE QUAI DES PAQUIS IN GENEVA Musee d'Art et d'Histoire, Geneva

MOTHER AND CHILD ON THE BEACH John G. Johnson Collection, Philadelphia

RECOLLECTION OF MORTEFONTAINE The Louvre, Paris

THE BOATMAN OF MORTEFONTAINE Copyright the Frick Collection, New York

THE STUDIO: YOUNG WOMAN WITH A MANDOLIN The Louvre, Paris

WINDSWEPT LANDSCAPE Musee des Beaux-Arts, Reims

AGOSTINA The National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Chester Dale Collection

THE CHURCH OF MARISSEL The Louvre, Paris

view OF MANTES Musee des Beaux-Arts, Reims

WOMAN WITH A PEARL The Louvre, Paris

THE BELFRY OF DOUAI The Louvre, Paris

MLLE DE FOUDRAS Glasgow Art Gallery and Museum

YOUNG ALGERIAN WOMAN LYING ON THE GRASS Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

POND AT VILLE-D'AVRAY WITH LEANING TREE Musee des Beaux-Arts, Reims

INTERIOR OF SENS CATHEDRAL The Louvre, Paris

LADY IN BLUE The Louvre, Paris