Road by the Water

c. 1865–70

Corot often painted the landscape in Ville-d’Avray, west of Paris, where his family had a country home. The villagers scattered along this sun-dappled road carry various bundles, their tasks appearing more leisurely than arduous. The figures are carefully positioned to lead our eye through the painting, while the soft, hazy light and warm shadows infuse this idyllic view of rural France with a sense of tranquility.

Medium	oil on canvas
Dimensions	15 7/8 x 23 13/16 in. (40.3 x 60.5 cm) Frame: 23 3/4 x 31 3/4 x 3 1/4 in. (60.3 x 80.6 x 8.3 cm)
Object Number	1955.553
Acquisition	Acquired by Sterling and Francine Clark before 1955
Status	On View

Image Caption

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Road by the Water, c. 1865–70, oil on canvas. Clark Art Institute, 1955.553

Select Bibliography

New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art.. Loan.. 1886-1903.. New York: Wildenstein & Co.. The Serene World of Corot.. Nov. 11-Dec. 12, 1942.. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Exhibit Five: French Paintings of the 19th Century. Exhibition catalogue. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1956. Wildenstein & Company. An Exhibition of Treasures from the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts: Paintings, drawings & rare silver, for the benefit of the Committee to Rescue Italian Art, inc. (CRIA). Exhibition catalogue. New York: Wildenstein & Company, 1967. Wildenstein & Co., New York.. Corot Exhibition. Oct. 30-Dec. 6, 1969.. 1969.. Edward Strahan.. Catalogue of Mr. W. H. Vanderbilt's Collection, vol. 2: The Art Treasures of America.. Philadelphia.. 1879.. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1970. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling & Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1972. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1984. Matheron, Geneviève. Corot à Ville-d'Avray. Ville-d'Avray, France: Musée de Ville-d'Avray, 1987. Kern, Steven, ed. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1992. Robaut, Alfred. L'oeuvre de Corot, catalogue raisonné et illustré. Paris: Leonce Laget, 1905. Mowery, Elizabeth. Landscape Meditations: An Artist's Guide to Exploring Themes in Landscape Painting. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications, 2005. Lees, Sarah, ed. Nineteenth-Century European Paintings at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute; New Haven and London: distributed by Yale University Press, 2012. Ganz, James A. and Richard R. Brettell. Great French Paintings from the Clark: Barbizon through Impressionism. Exhibition catalogue. New York: Skira Rizzoli Publications; Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 2011. Melikian, Souren. "A Unique and Unforgettable Collection." International Herald Tribune, 16–17 September 2000.

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EUROPEAN PAINTINGS CATALOGUE ENTRY

Provenance

William H. Vanderbilt, New York (by 1879–d. 1885); George W. Vanderbilt, New York, his son, by descent (1885–d. 1914);¹ Cornelius Vanderbilt III, New York, his nephew, by descent (1914–d. 1942); Grace Wilson Vanderbilt, his wife, by descent (1942–45, her sale, Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, 18 Apr. 1945, no. 128, sold to Knoedler); [Knoedler, New York, sold to Clark, 20 Apr. 1945]; Robert Sterling Clark (1945–55); Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1955. 1. George Washington Vanderbilt placed this and a number of other works on long-term loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1886. The works were returned to his nephew in 1919.