"The whole landscape lies behind the transparent gauze of the fog that now rises, drawn upwards by the sun, and as it rises, reveals the silver-spangled river, the fields, the cottages, the further scene. At last one can discern all that one could only guess at before.. .The sun is up! There is a peasant at the end of the field, with his wagon drawn by a yoke of oxen.. .Everything is bursting into life, sparkling in the full light – light, which as yet is still soft and golden. The background, simple in line and harmonious in colour, melts into the infinite expanse of sky, through the bluish, misty atmosphere. The flowers raise their heads the birds flutter hither and thither.. .The little rounded willows on the bank of the stream look like birds spreading their tails. It's adorable! And one paints! And paints!"
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Corot's description of a morning in Switzerland, Château de Gruyères, 1857, as quoted in Letters of the great artists – from Blake to Pollock, Richard Friedenthal, Thames and Hudson, London, 1963
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jean-Baptiste-Camille_Corot
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (16 July 1796 – 22 February 1875) was a French landscape and portrait painter as well as a printmaker in etching and famous art teacher in Paris. Corot was a leading figure in the Barbizon school of France in the mid-nineteenth century. He is a pivotal figure in landscape painting and his vast output simultaneously references the Neo-Classical tradition and anticipates the plein-air innovations of Impressionism
41 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot →
Related Quotes
"I have learned from experience that it is useful to begin by drawing one's picture clearly on a virgin canvas, first …"
"The first two things to study are form and values. For me, these are the bases of what is serious art. Color and fini…"
"I am staying on in Geneva, this charming city. With each step I discover delightful motives. How pleasant it is to wo…"
"My spirits.. ..now lean towards sadness and melancholy. I too am beginning to feel my age. Then, as one moves on in l…"
"I am never in a hurry to reach details. First and above all I am interested in the large masses and the general chara…"
"Be guided by feeling alone. We are only simple mortals, subject to error; so listen to the advice of others, but foll…"
"Beauty in art is truth bathed in an impression received from nature. I am struck upon seeing a certain place. While I…"
"You know, a landscape painter's day is delightful. You get up early, at three o'clock in the morning, before sunrise;…"
"I thank heaven that I was born in the same century as this remarkable artist [= Daubigny ]."
"My travelling companion [= Corot] has just abandoned me. He's a perfect Father Joy, this Father Corot. He is altogeth…"