During his later years Corot often visited the hamlet of Coubron, situated west of Paris near Le Raincy. In 1873 he had a studio built there, adjoining the property of his friends Dr and Mme Gratiot. This painting has been dated to around 1870-2, but it is difficult to be precise. Corot did spend more time in Coubron from 1872 onwards in order to escape the pressure of clients at his Paris studio. The motif of the willow trees, horse and rider and a peasant woman gathering flowers are all found frequently in Corot’s late work.
Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot (French, 1796 - 1875)
Corot's landscapes developed from the classical landscape tradition and strongly influenced the young Impressionists. He trained in his native Paris, having persuaded his parents that his future was with painting rather than the family textile business. In 1825 he travelled to Italy and made many drawings and oil sketches in the open air in and around Rome. These are remarkable for their naturalism and sensitivity to tone as well as colour. His finished paintings were carefully worked up in the studio. From the 1850s he developed a softer style, using grey-green tones which proved very popular with nineteenth-century collectors in France and Britain.
