Camille Corot

L. 180 x 260 mm; S. 360 x 570 mm

Le Fort Détaché Robaut 3154, Delteil 32, Melot 32 lithograph*, 1874, on fine greyish chine appliqué, the only known state, a very fine impression, with full margins, from the sole 1874 edition of 100 impressions; some scattered foxing on the support sheet of vellum, essentially away from the subject, otherwise in excellent condition

Provenance: the Henri M. Petiet collection, with the HMP wetstamp on the reverse (not cited in Lugt)

This fine print of Corot's last manner depicts a windswept and somewhat barren Italianate landscape, enlivened only by a small group of isolated figures. Worked up in sketchy refinement, the artist's deft handling makes the subject seem almost fantastic.

* Technically speaking an autographie (this term applying to the "original drawings" that Corot executed on lithographic transfer paper.