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Gallery Text

Like many of his contemporaries, Corot traveled to Normandy, in northwest France, to paint the landscape. This view of Honfleur isolates two maritime features of the coastline, omitting any figures or evidence of the commercial activities of the bustling port. Rapidly executed, it only summarily registers the city and hill line beyond, and the perspective is left awkwardly unresolved. Corot regularly made oil sketches such as this one outdoors. He did not intend these plein air studies to be exhibited, as he did not consider them an end in themselves, but preparatory works for larger, more finished compositions. This and other marine studies aided in his development of a large painting titled Seascape, which he showed at the Salon of 1834.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1962.88
People
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, French (Paris 1796 - 1875 Ville d'Avray)
Title
A Fishing Boat, Honfleur
Other Titles
Alternate Title: Honfleur - A Fishing Boat
Classification
Paintings
Work Type
painting
Date
c. 1830
Culture
French
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/228214

Location

Location
Level 2, Room 2100, European and American Art, 17th–19th century, Centuries of Tradition, Changing Times: Art for an Uncertain Age
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Physical Descriptions

Medium
Oil on paper laid down on ragboard
Dimensions
sight: 23.2 x 31.1 cm (9 1/8 x 12 1/4 in.)
framed: 41.5 x 50.5 cm (16 5/16 x 19 7/8 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription: l.r.: Vente/Corot (estate stamp)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Vente Corot [Hôtel Drouot, Paris, May 26, 1875, lot 57]. M. Détrimont, Paris. Adele R. Levy Fund, Inc., New York, gift; to Fogg Art Museum, 1962.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Adele R. Levy Fund, Inc.
Accession Year
1962
Object Number
1962.88
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • The Mrs. Adele R. Levy Collection: A Memorial Exhibition, exh. cat., The Museum of Modern Art (New York, NY, 1961), repr. in b/w p. 12
  • Edgar Peters Bowron, European Paintings Before 1900 in the Fogg Art Museum: A Summary Catalogue including Paintings in the Busch-Reisinger Museum, Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 1990), p. 102, repr. as no. 274
  • Michael Pantazzi and Vincent Pomarède, Corot, 1796-1875, exh. cat., Réunion des Musées Nationaux (Paris, 1996), no. 44, p. 159, repr. in color

Exhibition History

  • The Mrs. Adele R. Levy Collection: A Memorial Exhibition, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 06/09/1961 - 07/16/1961
  • Corot Exhibition for the Benefit for the Citizens Committee for Children of New York, Wildenstein Gallery, New York, New York, 10/29/1969 - 12/06/1969
  • Master Paintings from the Fogg Collection, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 04/13/1977 - 08/31/1977
  • HAA 10 Survey Course: The Western Tradition, Art Since the Renaissance, Harvard University Art Museums, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 02/09/2008 - 03/02/2008
  • 32Q: 2100 19th Century, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050

Subjects and Contexts

  • Google Art Project

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu