Ville d'Avray: Boatman on a Pond (Evening Effect)
1862
Medium
Etching; third state of three
Dimensions
Sheet: 3 5/16 × 5 1/4 in. (8.4 × 13.3 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Theodore De Witt, 1923
Accession Number
23.65.41
Art Historical Context
Camille Corot's *Ville d'Avray: Boatman on a Pond ( Effect)* (1862) captures the tranquil beauty of the artist's beloved retreat near Paris. Corot, a master of the Barbizon school and a bridge between Romanticism and Impression, frequently depicted the lush landscapes of Ville d'Av, where he owned a home. This intimate etching evokes a peaceful evening on the pond, with a solitary boatman suggesting quiet contemplation amid soft twilight hues—a hallmark of Corot's poetic, atmospheric style. Printed as a third and final state of three, this etching showcases Corot's skill in intaglio printmaki...
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...