The Letter
This work owes much of its character to the precedent of the eighteenth-century French painter Chardin. Yet the motif and handling also reflect an awareness of seventeenth-century Dutch painting, particularly Vermeer and de Hooch, whose works Corot could have seen during a trip to Holland in 1854. This picture was probably painted around the time Vermeer’s art was enjoying a revival of interest.
Artwork Details
- Title: The Letter
- Artist: Camille Corot (French, Paris 1796–1875 Paris)
- Date: ca. 1865
- Medium: Oil on wood
- Dimensions: 21 1/2 x 14 1/4 in. (54.6 x 36.2 cm)
- Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Gift of Horace Havemeyer, 1929
- Object Number: 29.160.33
- Curatorial Department: European Paintings
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