Dunkerque, Fishing Boats tied to the Wharf

c. 1830

Corot’s atmospheric view of the harbor at Dunkerque includes the dark horizontal shapes of boats moored in the foreground, their masts and sails rising into the sky. In the distance, the gray silhouettes of harbor buildings are reflected in the undulating water. The inscription “vente Corot” in the bottom left corner indicates that the painting was sold from the artist’s studio after his death in 1875.

Medium	oil on laid paper, mounted on canvas
Dimensions	9 5/16 x 14 1/4 in. (23.7 x 36.2 cm) Frame: 2 x 13 3/4 x 18 1/4 in. (5.1 x 34.9 x 46.4 cm)
Object Number	1955.542
Acquisition	Acquired by Sterling and Francine Clark before 1955
Status	On View

Image Caption

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Dunkerque, Fishing Boats tied to the Wharf, c. 1830, oil on laid paper, mounted on canvas. Clark Art Institute, 1955.542

Select Bibliography

Robaut, Alfred. L'oeuvre de Corot, catalogue raisonné et illustré. Paris: Leonce Laget, 1905. 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. Cunningham, Charles C., Susan D. Peters, and Kathleen Zimmerer. Jongkind and the Pre-Impressionists: Painters of the Ecole Saint-Siméon. Exhibition catalogue. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1977. Art Life.. Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot, 1796-1875. Odakyu Grand Gallery, Tokyo, Sept. 13-Oct. 1, 1989; Navio Museum of Art, Osaka, Oct. 20-Nov. 14, 1989; Jan. 18-Feb. 25, 1990, Sogo Museum of Art, Yokohama. Cat. by Gabriel Weisberg.. 1989.. Manchester (NH): Currier Gallery of Art. The Rise of Landscape Painting in France: Corot to Monet. Jan. 29-April 30, 1991; IBM Gallery, New York, July 30-Sept. 28, 1991; Dallas Museum of Art, Nov. 10, 1991-Jan. 5, 1992; High Museum, Atlanta, Jan. 28-March 29, 1992. (Cat. by Kermit Champa et al.). 1991.. Frankfurter, Alfred. "More Treasures Emerge at Williamstown." Art News 55 (Summer 1956). Gowing, Lawrence. "Corot." Art News Annual 30 (1965). 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. Kern, Steven, ed. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1992. Réunion des Musées Nationaux.. Corot: 1796-1875. Feb. 27-May 27, 1996; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, June 21-Sept. 22, 1996; Metropolitan Museum, New York, Oct. 29, 1996-Jan. 19, 1997 (Cat. by Gary Tinterow and Vincent Pomarede).. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.. 1996.. 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.

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Provenance

Artist’s studio sale, Drouot, Paris, 1–4 June 1875, no. 422, sold to Dubuisson; René Dubuisson (from 1875); [Clyfford Trevor, New York, sold to Clark, 1 Dec. 1947]; Robert Sterling Clark (1947–55); Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1955.