Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot (1796-1875) Row of Poplars in Normandy, 1840/45

Oil on paper mounted on canvas. 18 x 25 cm.
Signed lower left. Circa 1840-1845.
Listed in the 6th supplement to the catalogue raisonné of Corot’s works.

This small landscape, painted around 1840–1845, reflects Corot’s sensitive eye for the Norman countryside. The composition is structured along a diagonal formed by a row of poplars whose slender trunks cut across the clear sky. The painter contrasts the dark mass of foliage with the luminous green of the meadow, dotted with white flowers in the foreground.

Through the subtle balance of shadow and light, Corot captures the tranquil atmosphere of a summer afternoon. One recognizes here his art of simplifying nature without ever betraying it, seeking a poetic truth rather than strict topographical accuracy.

This plein-air study illustrates Corot’s direct connection with the emerging Barbizon school and already foreshadows Impressionist sensibilities.
Born in Paris in 1796, Corot abandoned the family trade business to devote himself entirely to painting. Trained under Michallon and later Bertin, he traveled to Italy in 1825, returning with numerous landscape studies.

Back in Paris in 1828, Corot undertook a new series of journeys that led him across much of provincial France.

Working for long periods in the heart of the Fontainebleau forest, he became one of the leading figures of the Barbizon school, a community of painters advocating the practice of painting directly from nature. He formed friendships with artists such as François Millet, Théodore Rousseau, and Auguste Ravier.

A major painter of the 19th century, Corot is today recognized as a precursor to Impressionism. Made an officer of the Légion d’Honneur in 1867, he exerted a decisive influence on generations of artists, from Millet to Pissarro.