This picture, shown at the Salon of 1835, is the earliest of four large, ambitious biblical paintings that Corot exhibited in the 1830s and 1840s. Like the Museum’s The Burning of Sodom, it illustrates the story of the family of Abraham. Because his wife, Sarah, was elderly and barren, Abraham fathered a son, Ishmael, with their servant, Hagar. Later, when Sarah bore her own son, Isaac, Hagar and Ishmael were driven away into the desert of Beersheba. For this painting, Corot chose the moment of their divine salvation.
"Salon de 1835 (IIIe article). Les peintres et les poètes." L'artiste 9 (1835), pp. 90, 150, praises this picture.
V[ictor]. Schoelcher. "Salon de 1835. Dernier article." Revue de Paris 17 (May 1835), pp. 165–66, considers it the most beautiful landscape in the exhibition.
A.-D. Vergnaud. Petit pamphlet sur quelques tableaux du Salon de 1835 et sur beaucoup de journalistes qui en ont rendu compte. Paris, 1835 [see Ref. Robaut 1905], expresses dislike for this painting.
L[ouis]. V[iardot]. "Salon de 1835." Le National de 1834 (April 5, 1835), unpaginated, criticizes the execution of this picture, noting, for example, that the rocks should be better grouped and that the angel is too far away.
[Louis Batissier?]. "Salon de 1837." L'artiste 13 (1837), pp. 146–47, calls it an estimable but incomplete work.
Louis Viardot. "Beaux-Arts. Salon de 1837. -Septième article." Le Siècle (April 17, 1837), p. 1.
Jules Janin. "Salon de 1839 (cinquième article)." L'artiste, 2nd ser., 2 (1839), p. 271.
Ad[olphe]. Desbarrolles. "Notes sur la vie d'artiste (5e article)." Bulletin de l'ami des arts 2 (1844), p. 17, states that this picture was poorly hung at the Salon in the dark galleries known as the Catacombes.
Paul Mantz. "Artistes contemporains: Corot." Gazette des beaux-arts 11 (November 1, 1861), p. 422, states that this picture was recently exhibited at the boulevard des Italiens [see Exh. Paris 1861].
Camille Corot. Letter to Auguin. January 15, [1873] [excerpt published in Ref. Robaut 1905, vol. 4, p. 345], mentions that this picture is not in current fashion.
Edouard Daliphard. "Exposition des Ĺ“uvres de Corot." L'art 2 (May 30, 1875), p. 159, notes that it was purchased a few days ago by prince Soutzo.
Jean Rousseau. "Corot." L'art 1 (March 14, 1875), p. 246.
Charles Bigot. Peintres français contemporains. Paris, 1888, p. 51.
Gustave Geffroy in "Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot." Corot and Millet. Ed. Charles Holme. New York, 1903, pp. cxi, cxiii, states that Corot made studies for this picture in the town of Volterra in Tuscany.
Ethel Birnstingl and Alice Pollard. Corot. London, 1904, pp. 25–26, 62, 166, 177, call it "Hagar in the Wilderness" in the text and "Hagar in the Desert" in the list of works; note the classical influence in this picture.
Maurice Hamel. Corot et son Ĺ“uvre. Paris, 1905, vol. 1, pp. 15, 18, pl. 7.
Julius Meier-Graefe. Corot und Courbet: Ein Beitrag zur Entwicklungsgeschichte der Modernen Malerei. Leipzig, 1905, pp. 21–22, 29–31, 50 [English translation published in Ref. Meier-Graefe 1908; reprinted in Ref. Meier-Graefe 1913].
Julius Meier-Graefe. Modern Art, Being a Contribution to a New System of Aesthetics. London, 1908, vol. 1. pp. 164–65, 167–68, 173, 182, remarks that this picture's "superficial conventionality tempts us to overlook all there is of Corot in the picture"; locates it in the Gallimard collection.
Raymond Bouyer. "Corot, peintre de figures." Revue de l'art ancien et moderne 26 (October 1909), p. 300.
Julius Meier-Graefe. Camille Corot. 3rd ed. Munich, 1913, pp. 28, 31, 34, ill. p. 23.
Marc Lafargue. Corot. London, 1926, pp. 39–41, places it in Corot's classical period, between his Italian paintings and those of the Mortefontaine period.
"Jean-Baptiste Corot (1796–1875): Compositions Classiques." Documents 1 (April–December 1929), ill. p. 89, as "Agar," in the collection of Mlle Dieterle.
C. Bernheim de Villers. Corot: Peintre de figures. Paris, 1930, p. 31, observes that this was the first picture exhibited by Corot in which the figure plays an important role.
"Activity." Magazine of Art 31 (December 1938), pp. 716–17, ill.
"An Early Corot Masterpiece for the Metropolitan: 'Hagar in the Wilderness'." Art News 37 (November 19, 1938), p. 8, ill.
"From Corot's Youth." Art Digest 13 (December 1, 1938), p. 9, ill.
Harry B. Wehle. "Hagar in the Wilderness by Corot." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 33 (November 1938), pp. 246–49, ill., remarks that although this picture was painted in Paris, the head of Hagar resembles sketches from Corot's first trip to Italy in 1825–28 and the landscape is based on studies made in the Sabine mountains near Narni and Terni.
James W. Lane. "Notes from New York." Apollo 29 (January 1939), pp. 35–37, ill., compares the execution of the trees and the "tawniness of the colours" with Derain.
Art News Annual (1945–46), p. 90, ill., calls it a landscape in the tradition of Poussin.
Henri Marceau. Corot 1796–1875. Exh. cat., Philadelphia Museum of Art. Philadelphia, 1946, pp. 17, 30, no. 18, ill. [includes reprint of Ref. Venturi 1947], calls it "Hagar in the Desert"; states that the landscape was created from sketches or recollections of the Tuscan countryside; comments that this picture was the first to bring Corot success.
Lionello Venturi. Modern Painters. Vol. 1, New York, 1947, p. 148.
Joseph C. Sloane. French Painting Between the Past and the Present: Artists, Critics, and Traditions, from 1848 to 1870. [reprint 1973]. Princeton, 1951, pp. xi, 125, fig. 3.
Josephine L. Allen and Elizabeth E. Gardner. A Concise Catalogue of the European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1954, p. 20.
Daniel Baud-Bovy. Corot. Geneva, 1957, pp. 45, 85, 121–22, 187, 202–4, identifies the sitter in the Louvre drawing of a young woman (R2652) as Alexina Legoux, Corot's favorite of his mother's employees, calling her the inspiration for our painting; criticizes the lack of unity in the composition of the painting and the theatricality of the studio model who actually posed for the figure of Hagar.
François Fosca. Corot, sa vie et son oeuvre. Brussels, 1958, pp. 23, 145, 190, relates it to the historic landscape tradition of Poussin and Claude, and compares its austerity and simplicity to Puvis de Chavannes.
Denys Sutton. Corot. Exh. cat., Marlborough Fine Art Ltd. London, 1963, p. 8, discusses it in the context of historical landscapes.
Cecil Gould. Corot. Exh. cat., Edinburgh International Festival. London, 1965, unpaginated, no. 33, pl. 24.
Charles Sterling and Margaretta M. Salinger. French Paintings: A Catalogue of the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 2, XIX Century. New York, 1966, pp. 48–50, ill., remark that although this composition was based on sketches made in Cività Castellana during Corot's first Italian trip as well as studies of the Fontainebleau forest, "the general character of the whole landscape... was surely inspired by memories of his more recent trip to central Italy"; mention the first notebook sketch (R3097), several studies (R135–40, 246A, 278), the drawing of a young woman (Louvre), a painted sketch [see Ref. Bazin 1973], and an engraving on glass (R3207).
Anne Reverdy. L'École de Barbizon: Évolution du prix des tableaux de 1850 à 1960. Mouton, [1967], p. 56.
Madeleine Hours. Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot. New York, [1972], pp. 90–91, ill. (color).
Germain Bazin. Corot. 3rd rev. ed. [1st ed., 1942; 2nd ed., 1951]. Paris, 1973, pp. 10, 40–41, 264, 281, reproduces a smaller version of this composition, which does not include the angel, calling it a study for our painting (formerly collection Georges Renand, Paris) [see Ref. Pantazzi 1996].
Pierre Miquel. Le Paysage français au XIXe siècle. Vol. 2, 1824–1874. Maurs-la-jolie, 1975, pp. 18–19.
Anthony F. Janson. "Corot: Tradition and the Muse." Art Quarterly, n.s., 1, no. 4 (1978), p. 298, notes this picture's combination of stylistic and topographical features from both Italy and the North.
Charles S. Moffett and Anne Wagner inThe Metropolitan Museum of Art: Notable Acquisitions, 1979–1980. New York, 1980, p. 43.
Carla Maria Puppin. "The Critical Response to Landscape Painting in France, 1830–1851." PhD diss., Bryn Mawr College, 1986, p. 20.
Collection Georges Renand. Drouot-Montaigne. November 20, 1987, unpaginated, under no. 12.
Jean Selz. La Vie et l'Ĺ“uvre de Camille Corot. Paris, 1988, pp. 102, 104, 107, 134, ill. (color), comments that the publication of Nanteuil's lithograph (see Charivari 1835) was a sign of the contemporary success of this picture; based on notes made by Robaut, suggests that the inspiration for Hagar was another employee of Corot's mother named Zoe, and that it was probably she who posed for the Louvre drawing known as "mon Agar," although she did not pose for the MMA painting (see Silvestre 1856).
Peter Galassi inClaude to Corot: The Development of Landscape Painting in France. Ed. Alan Wintermute. Exh. cat., Colnaghi. New York, 1990, p. 246, fig. 16.
Peter Galassi. Corot in Italy: Open-Air Painting and the Classical-Landscape Tradition. New Haven, 1991, pp. 80–81, pl. 94.
Michael Clarke. Corot and the Art of Landscape. London, 1991, pp. 56–58, 60, colorpl. 63, erroneously dates it 1815 in the caption; suggests that Corot referred to the Louvre drawing of a young woman as "mon Agar" because his family disapproved of their romantic involvement.
Jean Leymarie. Corot. 3rd ed. (1st ed., 1966). [Geneva], 1992, p. 75, ill. (color) [English ed., 1979].
Michael Clarke. "Corot: Between the Classical and the Modern." Cezanne & Poussin: A Symposium. Ed. Richard Kendall. Sheffield, 1993, pp. 80–81, pl. 22.
Iain Gale. Corot. London, 1994, pp. 22, 70–71, 114, ill. (color), notes that the overall tonal treatment recalls Aligny; calls this painting a historical landscape focusing on the action of the protagonists, as in the work of Poussin, rather than a landscape history painting, as advocated by Corot's mentor Michallon.
Katharine Baetjer. European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art by Artists Born Before 1865: A Summary Catalogue. New York, 1995, p. 404, ill.
Vincent Pomarède inCorot. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1996, pp. 27, 74, 84, 135 [Fr. ed., "Corot 1796–1875," Paris, pp. 64, 120, 129, 188].
Gary Tinterow inCorot. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1996, p. 271 [French ed., "Corot 1796–1875," 1996, p. 334].
François Fossier et al. "Corot." Connaissance des arts [special exhibition issue for "Corot, 1796–1875"] (1996), pp. 28, 32, fig. 30 (color).
Manuel Jover and Vincent Pomarède. "Camille Corot." Beaux Arts [special exhibition issue for "Corot 1796–1875"] (1996), pp. 14, 43, fig. 39 (color).
Colin B. Bailey in Colin B. Bailey. Renoir's Portraits: Impressions of an Age. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. New Haven, 1997, p. 217.
Louise d'Argencourt inThe Cleveland Museum of Art Catalogue of Paintings: Part Four., European Paintings of the 19th Century. Cleveland, 1999, vol. 2, pp. 479–81 n. 3.
Jed Perl. Eyewitness: Reports from an Art World in Crisis. New York, 2000, p. 219, remarks that it has "a clean-lined, off-balance beauty that is far from Neoclassical conventions".
Greg M. Thomas. "The Topographical Aesthetic in French Tourism and Landscape." Nineteenth-Century Art Worldwide 1 (Spring 2002), fig. 3 (color) [http://www.19thc-artworldwide.org/spring02/198-the-topographical-aesthetic-in-french-tourism-and-landscape], states that Corot’s inclusion of a study of the Forest of Fontainebleau at the center of the picture buttresses its "theme of being lost in a wasteland lacking history, beauty, and meaning” and illustrates the rise of a new topographical aesthetic rooted in French tourism and tied to the French national identity.
Vincent Pomarède inMaestà di Roma, da Napoleone all'unita d'Italia: D'Ingres à Degas, les artistes français à Rome. Ed. Olivier Bonfait. Exh. cat., Villa Medici, Rome. [Milan], 2003, p. 380 under no. 183, states that the landscape around Cervara, south of Rome, served numerous works by Corot and other artists that were exhibited at the Salon.
Susan Greenberg. "Reforming 'Paysage Historique': Corot and the Generation of 1830." Art History 27 (June 2004), pp. 413–14, 418–22, 426–27 n. 6, p. 429 n. 25, p. 430 n. 41, pl. 3.6, discusses it as a historical landscape which "spoke to Salon viewers in ways that descriptive naturalism could not"; relates Corot's resurrection of the dying genre of historical landscape to the story of Hagar and Ishmael's near death and notes that the construction of the figures' meandering route "emphasizes the experience of dislocation and displacement that characterizes both the picture's theme and the spectator's experience of the landscape"; perceives an element of fear in this picture's "choleric" greenish-yellow tones.
Vincent Pomarède inCorot: Naturaleza, Emoción, Recuerdo. Ed. Vincent Pomarède. Exh. cat., Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza. Madrid, 2005, pp. 43, 45–46, 274, 306, 338–39, 342, 390, 398, fig. B.5 (color detail).
Michael Clarke inCorot: Naturaleza, Emoción, Recuerdo. Ed. Vincent Pomarède. Exh. cat., Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza. Madrid, 2005, pp. 24, 331, fig. A.6 (color).
Petra ten-Doesschate Chu. Nineteenth-Century European Art. 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J., 2006, pp. 237–38, fig. 10-15 (color).
Katherine Rothkopf. Pissarro: Creating the Impressionist Landscape. Exh. cat., Baltimore Museum of Art. London, 2006, p. 45.
Gary Tinterow inThe Masterpieces of French Painting from The Metropolitan Museum of Art: 1800–1920. Exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. New York, 2007, p. 26.
Simon Kelly inThe Repeating Image: Multiples in French Painting from David to Matisse. Ed. Eik Kahng. Exh. cat., Walters Art Museum. Baltimore, 2007, p. 76 n. 50, calls it "Hagar and the Angel".
Simon Kelly in Kimberly Jones. In the Forest of Fontainebleau: Painters and Photographers from Corot to Monet. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Art. Washington, 2008, p. 144, as "Hagar and the Angel".
Vincent Pomarède inCorot: Souvenirs et variations. Exh. cat., National Museum of Western Art. Tokyo, 2008, pp. 22–23, 252, fig. 15.
Michael Pantazzi in Jane Kinsman. Degas: The Uncontested Master. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Australia. Canberra, 2008, p. 260 n. 6.
Vincent Pomarède inCorot e l'arte moderna. Souvenirs et Impressions. Exh. cat., Palazzo della Gran Guardia, Verona. Venice, 2009, pp. 13, 53, fig. 14 (color).
Nathalie Michel-Szelechowska inCorot e l'arte moderna. Souvenirs et Impressions. Exh. cat., Palazzo della Gran Guardia, Verona. Venice, 2009, p. 74.
Vincent Pomarède. Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot: Souvenir de Mortefontaine. Paris, 2010, p. 10, fig. 15 (color).
Vincent Pomarède inThe Secret Armoire: Corot's Figure Paintings and the World of Reading. Ed. Mariantonia Reinhard-Felice. Exh. cat., Collection Oskar Reinhart "Am Römerholz," Winterthur. Munich, 2011, pp. 28, 171, fig. 9 (color) [German ed., "Corot. L'Armoire secrète: Eine Lesende im Kontext"].
Dorit Schäfer inCamille Corot: Natur und Traum. Exh. cat., Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe. Heidelberg, 2012, pp. 101–2 n. 15, fig. 3 (color).
Nathalie Michel-Szelechowska inCamille Corot: Natur und Traum. Exh. cat., Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe. Heidelberg, 2012, pp. 283–84 n. 45, fig. 9 (color).
Sonja Maria Krämer inCamille Corot: Natur und Traum. Exh. cat., Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe. Heidelberg, 2012, p. 24.
Claudia Denk inNatur als Kunst: FrĂĽhe Landschaftsmalerei des 19. Jahrhunderts in Deutschland und Frankreich aus der Sammlung der Christoph Heilmann Stiftung im Lenbachhaus MĂĽnchen. Heidelberg, 2013, p. 257.
Kathryn Calley Galitz. The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Masterpiece Paintings. New York, 2016, p. 431, no. 332, ill. pp. 342, 431 (color).
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