Corot in Italy: Open-Air Painting and the Classical-Landscape Tradition

Arriving in Rome in 1825, Corot spent three years painting and drawing the landscape nearby. In their freshness and candour, his open-air studies seem to point forward, toward Impressionism. Galassi shows that they also point to the past. Half a century before Corot visited Italy, the community of foreign artists at Rome had spawned a school of outdoor painting. Under the banner of Neoclassicism, an international roster of artists - British, French, German, Scandinavian - elaborated the experiment into a rich tradition, absorbing the lessons of Poussin and Claude and appropriating the motifs of the viewmakers. Corot's work marks the culmination of the tradition, the last, flowering of the classical landscape ideal. Drawing on the efforts of scholars, dealers, and collectors, Galassi establishes the coherence and significance of early outdoor painting in Italy. Building on this foundation, he explores in depth Corot's magnificent landscapes.