The New Student's Reference Work/Corot, Jean Baptiste Camille

Corot (kō̇′rō̇′), Jean Baptiste Camille, a French landscape-painter, was born at Paris, July 28, 1796. He was first a clerk in a dry-goods store, but his tastes led him early to study art. His paintings made their way slowly, but wealth and fame finally came to him. Corot's landscapes were true copies of nature. His favorite subjects were misty lakes, rivers smothered in vapor and the quiet of moonlight or sunrise, which he painted as a poet would have written of them. He had great influence on young French artists, who admired and liked him for his genius, kindliness and generosity. At one time they gave him a medal of their own when the Salon had passed him by, and they always called him Father Corot. Among his masterpieces are The Dance of Nymphs and Macbeth. He died on Feb. 22, 1875.