Interrupted Reading
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Interrupted Reading is among the most compelling of Camille Corot’s late figure paintings. Corot almost never exhibited these studies of the human form, preferring instead to publicize the idyllic landscapes that were his specialty. To emphasize the private nature of Interrupted Reading, Corot enclosed his model within the protective environment of the artist’s studio. The mood of the painting is introspective and somewhat melancholic, the very essence of the Romantic sensibility. The muse-like image of a woman reading a book was a popular one in nineteenth-century art, but Corot chose to show his model pausing, looking up from this activity. Having spent a number of years in Italy and being a lover of everything Italian, the artist often furnished his models with Italianate costumes such as the one worn here. Whereas Corot’s subject matter is traditional, his technique is not.
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With direct and bold brushwork, he explored the human form as a construction of masses that support and balance one another. This broad handling is complemented by the artist’s obvious delight in detail—the ribbon in the model’s hair, the delicate earrings, the deep folds in the skirt. Here he combined a profound sense of formal structure with the dreamy softness and intimacy that characterize his most famous landscapes.
Instituto de Arte de ChicagoCC BY 4.0
Mientras tanto, en la vida de Camille Corot
La vida entera1860s
An interest in photography
In the 1860s Corot became interested in photography, taking photos himself and becoming acquainted with many early photographers. The monochrome tones of photographs suppressed his palette even further, making his paintings less dramatic but somewhat more poetic.
1865–1875
“Père Corot” of Parisian artists
In his final ten years Corot became the “Père (Father) Corot” of Parisian artistic circles, regarded with personal affection and acknowledged as one of the five or six greatest landscape painters the world had seen, along with Hobbema, Claude Lorrain, Turner and Constable.
1871
The siege of Paris: a donation; the Commune, in Arras
In 1871, during the Franco-Prussian War, Corot gave 2,000 francs for the poor of Paris, then under siege by the Prussians. During the Paris Commune he was at Arras with Alfred Robaut.
1872
A house in Auvers for the blind Daumier
In 1872 Corot bought a house in Auvers as a gift for Honoré Daumier, who by then was blind, without resources and homeless.
1872 · Distinción
Knight of the Order of Leopold
