Souvenir de Sologne. A Memory of Sologne. by Jean Baptiste Camille Corot, 1796-1875

Jean Baptiste Camille Corot, 1796-1875
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Souvenir de Sologne. A Memory of Sologne.

Original pen-drawn transfer lithograph or cliché in black ink. 1873. Signed in the plate. From the small and very scarce first edition, before the added lettering, issued for: L'Album Contemporain. Published by the Société Iconographique, Paris 1873. Printed at the lithography studio of Schmit et Cie, Paris 1873.
Ref: Delteil - Corot Peintre Graveur 34; Melot -Corot 34 (i)

Extremely fine delicate but tonal impression. On mid cream chine appliqué with a pale cream wove backing sheet, as first issued. Excellent condition. Sheet: 9 1/2 x 13 5/8ins. Image to border: 5 3/8 x 9 1/4ins (137x234mm).

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Corot drew this work in pen, working on transfer paper which was then applied to the litho stone. The delicacy of the strokes and the contrast between the intensity of the ink and the cream surface of the paper generate a poetic intensity of light which epitomises the beauty of Corot's graphic art.

Corot was the key figure in the transition from romanticism into realism in the landscape art of the mid 19th century in France. He had admired the way in which the low horizon-lines, and the dominance of the sky, in Dutch 18th century landscape, had created a quality of luminescence. The way that he adopted this technique in his search for a visual and atmospheric realism in his open-air landscape studies is clearly seen in 'Souvenir de Sologne'. Particularly characteristic is the way that the feathery lines of the trees are seen entirely in silhouette against the open sky.

Issued in c.1873 in the 'Album Contemporain' - a collection of six transfer lithographs issued as the first part of a proposed but uncompleted series - the edition appears to have been very small. The work was already described as rare (tiré à petit nombre) by Robaut in the 1890's.