The Gypsies
1872
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
21 3/4 x 31 1/2 in. (55.2 x 80 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Department
European Paintings
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Mr. and Mrs. Isaac D. Fletcher Collection, Bequest of Isaac D. Fletcher, 1917
Accession Number
17.120.212
Tags
Art Historical Context
Camille Corot's *The Gypsies* (1872) captures a serene forest landscape infused with human presence, blending the artist's masterful touch with everyday wanderers. Painted in oil on canvas, this 21 3/4 x 31 1/2-inch work exemplifies Corot's late-career synthesis of poetic naturalism and subtle figural elements. As a leading figure in the Barbizon School—a movement that emphasized direct observation of nature—Corot brought a soft, luminous quality to his scenes, paving the way for Impressionism with his atmospheric light and fluid brushwork. Set amidst dense woods, the painting evokes the roma...
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...