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The bent tree
(L'Arbre penché)
(1855-1860)
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
44.3 × 58.5 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1907
Gallery location
Late 19th & early 20th Century Paintings & Decorative Arts Gallery
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
Camille Corot’s fame in his own time rested on his paysages composés (composed landscapes). In these, Corot moved away from the direct study of nature to landscapes composed largely from memory, from remembered moods and feelings that had belonged
to certain places and times. It is Corot’s seemingly effortless evocation of landscape through the filter of memory and imagination that gives this celebrated work its dreamlike beauty. The purchase of this painting by the Felton Bequest in 1907 caused a sensation, with experts and journalists hailing its perfection. Its silvery tones have inspired Australian artists from Frederick McCubbin to Clarice Beckett and Elioth Gruner.
Artwork Details
Inscription
inscribed in brown paint l.r.: COROT
Accession Number
338-2
Department
International Painting
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Ms Carol Grigor through Metal Manufactures Limited
Subjects (general)
Landscapes
Subjects (specific)
trees waterfronts women (female humans)
Provenance
Collection of E. Alexander Young (1828–1907)[1], London, by 1888–1906, as L’Arbre Penché (Matin)[2]; by whom sold to Agnew's (dealer), London, 1906, stock no. Y5; from where purchased, on the advice of the Sir George Clausen and Bernard Hall, for the Felton Bequest, 28 March 1907.
[1] Young was an accountant at the firm Turquands, Youngs & Co.. This firm merged with Ernst & Whinney and many other companies to eventually become Ernst & Young.
[2] Young collection catalogue no. 682