A Pond in Picardy
ca. 1867
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
17 x 25 in. (43.2 x 63.5 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Department
European Paintings
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Benjamin Altman, 1913
Accession Number
14.40.813
Tags
Art Historical Context
Camille Corot's *A Pond in Picardy (ca. 1867) captures the tranquil beauty of the French countryside in Picardy, a region north of Paris known for its lush landscapes. This oil on canvas painting, measuring 17 x 25 inches, depicts a serene pond framed by trees, with figures of women adding a touch of human presence to the natural scene. Painted late in Corot's career, it reflects his lifelong passion for-air sketching, refined in the studio to evoke poetic harmony between light and atmosphere. Corot, a leading figure of the Barbizon School, bridged Neoclassicism and Impressionism with his mas...
About the Artist
Camille Corot · 1796–1875
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, born in Paris on July 16, 1796, into a prosperous bourgeois family—his father a former wig maker turned draper, his mother a successful milliner—initially resisted his artistic calling. After a lackluster education at the Lycée Pierre-Corneille in Rouen and failed apprenticeships in business, he abandoned commerce at age 26, thanks to a generous parental allowance foll...