La Lecture sous les Arbres. Woman Reading beneath some Trees. by Jean Baptiste Camille Corot, 1796-1875

Jean Baptiste Camille Corot, 1796-1875
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La Lecture sous les Arbres. Woman Reading beneath some Trees.

Original lithograph (autographie) in black ink. 1874. Signed in the stone. From the edition of 100 impressions, plus a few proofs (some in sanguine). Probably printed at the studio of Lemercier, and issued by them with the support of Alfred Robaut, Paris 1874. Rare.
Ref: Delteil - Corot Peintre Graveur no 33. Melot - Corot L'Oeuvre Gravé no 33

Beautiful tonal impression. On light china paper - bulle volant. Excellent condition; the extreme outer tip of the upper right sheet corner missing, possibly from the time of the printing. Otherwise full sheet: 11 x 7 3/4ins. Image almost to full sheet size - overall: 10 1/4 x 7 3/8ins. (260x188mm)

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Corot?s landscape lithographs include some of the most beautiful mid 19th century examples of the medium as an art form. This work was one of two compositions drawn in 1874, just two years after the series of studies ?Douze Croquis?. Like them it was also drawn at the encouragement of Alfred Robaut, the great critic and collector.

It was Corot?s art which was the catalyst towards the great ?naturalist? open-air movement in painting in the mid 19th century in France. His ability to express the changing atmosphere of weather and light led on to the Barbizon movement, and subsequently to the desire to capture ?sensations of light? in Impressionism. Corot was fascinated by printmaking as a way of drawing, but he found the need to work on etching in the studio a limitation. In 1870/71, through Alfred Robaut, he was shown at Lemercier?s studio in Paris how to use blocks of prepared lithographic paper. These could be taken out into the countryside like a sketchbook, and worked on direct from nature. They were then transferred to stone in the studio. The sense of liberation, of direct free drawing from nature whilst at the same time retaining the tonal and atmospheric qualities of the lithograph, inspired some of Corot?s most beautiful prints.