The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Study for "The Destruction of Sodom"

Study for "The Destruction of Sodom"

Camille Corot (French, Paris 1796–1875 Paris)

Date:: 1843
Medium:: Oil on canvas
Dimensions:: 14 1/8 x 19 5/8 in. (35.9 x 49.8 cm)
Classification:: Paintings
Credit Line:: Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Collection, Wolfe Fund, 1984
Accession Number:: 1984.75

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 803

Gallery Label

This small sketch records Corot's composition for "The Destruction of Sodom" (29.100.18) as he conceived it in 1843. That year, the large painting was rejected at the Paris Salon, but it was accepted when he resubmitted it in 1844.
Provenance

Jean Parédés, Paris; Prévost (in 1897; his sale, Paris, June 10, 1897, no. 50, withdrawn); [Nat Leeb, Paris, until 1968; sold in December to Hirschl & Adler]; [Hirschl & Adler, New York, 1968–74; sale, Christie's, London, July 6, 1971, no. 4, bought in; sale, Hôtel George V, Paris, March 13–14, 1974, no. 6, bought in; sold on November 9, 1974 to Bühler]; [Galerie Dr. Bühler, Munich, 1974–at least 1980]; sale, Sotheby's, New York, February 29, 1984, no. 14; sold to MMA
Exhibition History

New York. Hirschl & Adler Galleries, Inc.. "Selections from the European Collection," February 1970, no. 14.

Tokyo. Seibu Museum. "Millet, Corot and the School of Barbizon," March 15–April 14, 1980, no. T23 (as "Sketch for 'The Destruction of Sodom,'" lent by Dr. Hans-Peter Bühler, Munich).

Kobe. Museum of Modern Art, Hyogo. "Millet, Corot and the School of Barbizon," April 19–May 18, 1980, no. T23.

Sapporo. Hokkaido Prefectural Museum of Modern Art. "Millet, Corot and the School of Barbizon," May 24–June 15, 1980, no. T23.

Hiroshima Prefectural Museum. "Millet, Corot and the School of Barbizon," June 21–July 13, 1980, no. T23.

Kitakyushu Municipal Museum. "Millet, Corot and the School of Barbizon," July 19–August 10, 1980, no. T23.

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. "The Masterpieces of French Painting from The Metropolitan Museum of Art: 1800–1920," February 4–May 6, 2007, no. 9.

Berlin. Neue Nationalgalerie. "Französische Meisterwerke des 19.Jahrhunderts aus dem Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York," June 1–October 7, 2007, unnumbered cat.
References

Alfred Robaut. L'Œuvre de Corot: Catalogue raisonné et illustré. [reprint 1965]. Paris, 1905, vol. 2, pp. 168–69, no. 460 bis, ill., states that it is the sketch for the original state of "La Destruction de Sodome" (MMA 29.100.18) and dates it 1843.

Étienne Moreau-Nélaton. Corot raconté par lui-même. 2nd rev. ed. (1st ed., 1905). Paris, 1924, vol. 1, fig. 79.

Charles Sterling, and Margaretta M. Salinger. "XIX Century." French Paintings: A Catalogue of the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2, New York, 1966, p. 52, mentions it as a sketch with variations of MMA 29.100.18.

Hans-Peter Bühler. Die Schule von Barbizon: Französische Landschaftmalerei im 19. Jahrhundert. Munich, 1979, pp. 38, 63, fig. 29 (color).

Fronia E. Wissman. "Corot's Salon Paintings: Sources from French Classicism to Contemporary Theater Design." PhD diss., Yale University, 1989, vol. 1, p. 88, fig. 38.

Michael Pantazzi in Corot. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1996, p. 253, under no. 114, fig. 106 [French ed., "Corot 1796–1875," Paris, 1996, p. 316, under no. 114].

Gary Tinterow in Masterpieces of European Painting, 1800–1920, in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2007, pp. 32–33, 228, no. 30, ill. (color and black and white).

Gary Tinterow in The Masterpieces of French Painting from The Metropolitan Museum of Art: 1800–1920. Exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. New York, 2007, pp. 28–29, 193–94, no. 9, ill. (color and black and white).
Notes

This oil sketch records the initial state of the composition of "The Burning of Sodom" (R1097, MMA 29.100.18).