Date of Award

9-1-2011

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Art

First Advisor

Floyd Martin

Abstract

Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot was a prolific painter of the French landscape in the nineteenth century. Corot's landscape style had two distinctive periods: a classically inspired period prior to 1850, and then the dramatically different style after 1850. Characterized by the emphasis on light and atmosphere through a painterly approach, Corot's late landscapes have been neglected by scholars who routinely emphasize the early landscapes and his role in the development of Impressionism. This research clearly defines the late landscape style, details the existing scholarship, and offers new interpretation of the landscape style of Corot after 1850. Considering the stylistic influence of fellow painters, photographers, and popular culture, combined with Corot's personal experiences and beliefs, his late landscapes are viewed as subtle symbols of his perspectives on time, place, and, most powerfully, memory.

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