COROT, CAMILLE

born July 16, 1796, Paris, France died February 22, 1875, Paris in full Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot French painter, noted primarily for his landscapes, who inspired and to some extent anticipated the landscape painting of the Impressionists. His oil sketches, remarkable for their technical freedom and clear colour, have come to be as highly regarded as the finished pictures that were based upon them. Sir Alan Bowness The Editors of the Encyclopdia Britannica Additional reading Life and work The most comprehensive source on the artist is Gary Tinterow, Michael Pantazzi, and Vincent Pomarde, Corot (1996), an extensive and handsomely illustrated work that was published in conjunction with the retrospective exhibition commemorating the 200th anniversary of Corot's birth. The book features a chronological catalog with essays on the artist's development, as well as essays on forgeries and on Corot's collectors. General studies of the artist's life, work, and influence include Jean Leymarie, Corot (1966, reissued 1985; also published in French, 1966); Michael Clarke, Corot and the Art of Landscape (1991); Iain Gale, Corot (1994); and Vincent Pomarde and Grard de Wallens, Corot: Extraordinary Landscapes (1996). Themes and criticism In Peter Galassi, Corot in Italy: Open-Air Painting and the Classical-Landscape Tradition (1991), Corot's pioneering work as a plein-air painter is explored. This topic is further examined in Philip Conisbee, Sarah Faunce, and Jeremy Strick, In the Light of Italy: Corot and Early Open-Air Painting (1996). Corot is placed in the context of French plein-air painters in Robert L. Herbert, Barbizon Revisited: Essay and Catalogue (1962). Sir Alan Bowness The Editors of the Encyclopdia Britannica