VILLE D'AVRAY - ALLEE DU BOIS VERS SEVRES AVEC UNE PAYSANNE ET SA VACHE signed Corot twice, l.l. oil on canvas 19 x 14-1/2 in (48 x 37 cm) Painted circa 1855-1860. This work has been examined and authenticated by Martin Dieterle. A letter and photo-certificate from Mr. Dieterle will accompany the lot. The Barbizon school of painters, so named for the village of Barbizon in the Fontainebleau Forest where they went to paint, came to life in the 1830's. It counted amongst its members such distinguished artists as Gustave Courbet, Constant Troyon, Narcisse Diaz, Henri Harpignies, Theodore Rousseau, and, of course, Camille Corot. This group pioneered the practice of painting en plein air, out of doors, an achievement more commonly associated with the Impressionist movement. They glorified the French landscape and produced some of the most memorable works of the nineteenth century. Camille Corot was one of the foremost and forward-thinking landscape painters of his time. He spent much of his early life in the countryside near Ville d'Avray, an area that continued to be a tremendous source of inspiration for the artist throughout his career. Ville d'Avray - Allee du Bois vers Sevres avec une Paysanne et sa Vache is a particularly fine example of Corot's ability to capture the poetic quality of light, color, and form. A mundane subject, a peasant and cow on a country lane, has been elevated to a romantic vision when seen through the artist's sensitive eye. PROVENANCE The artist Aime Millet (Gift of the artist) Thomas Wigglesworth, Boston, circa 1870 George Wigglesworth, his nephew Richard Wigglesworth, his son Descended in the family to the present owner LITERATURE Alfred Robaut, L'oeuvre de Corot, Catalogue Raisonne et Illustre (Paris, 1965), no. 940, illus. See Illustration, Cover and Color Plate III.