Corot (Masters of Art)

From the front flap of this 167 page book: "Seen in relation to the art of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot can be called a traditional Romantic, but he was also a vital force in the development of Impressionism. A painter of Claudesque landscapes, he was also a precursor of Cubism. Daubigny, Daumier, Rousseau, and Millet were among his friends and associates. Morisot, Sisley, Renoir, Cezanne, Seurat, and Picasso are only a few of the artists he influenced. Corot was totally devoted to art and his paintings glow with a deep reverence for nature, a sensitivity so compelling that younger artists sought him as a teacher. He preferred 'plein air' painting, with its fixation on light and the momentary effects of nature. In the forests of Barbizon he took his canvases outdoors, painting during dawn or twilight, when nature is softened by that misty half-light which hides details and simplifies line, form, and color. Corot's exquisite paintings of women are executed in crisp harmonies and are infused with the rare classical calm that pervades many of his landscapes. The sketches and drawings also bear witness to his involvement with problems of light and shadow, for they often create an atmosphere, a mystical mood within an earthly environment. This volume in the Abrams 'Library of Great Painters' series discusses the many facets of Corot's art, from his lithographs and etchings and eloquent sketches of the Italian countryside to his portraits and experiments with light. The author, Madeleine Hours, is a curator at the Louvre and the Chief of Research in its Center for Scientific Research; she brings a wealth of knowledge and insight to her subject."