About the Artist

Corot was apprenticed to a cloth merchant before he began to study with the classical landscape painter Victor Bertin in the early 1820's, among others. Although he was formally trained in the style of Nicolas Poussin, he also copied works by Charles Vernet and the 17th-century Dutch masters as well as working from nature. Corot's long stays in Rome had a strong influence on his art. His landscapes are noted for his strict, clear compositions, precision of detail and the spontaneous way they capture changing light conditions and moods. By the end of the 1840's, inspired by the painters from the Barbizon School. he had developed a diffuse, sketchy representation of forms that was secondary to the mood they expressed. His atmospheric landscapes had a great influence on the Impressionists. Works by the artist include The colosseum in Rome, 1826, A Remembrance of Morte-Fontaine, 1864, and The Studio, 1866.