Artwork
Self-Portrait (Corot par lui-meme)
Self-Portrait (Corot par lui-meme) is a print by the Impressionist artist Jean Baptiste Camille Corot. It dates from 1858 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
Created in 1858, this self‑portrait by Jean‑Baptiste‑Camille Corot presents the artist’s own likeness rendered in a distinctive glass‑based print.
Created in 1858, this self‑portrait by Jean‑Baptiste‑Camille Corot presents the artist’s own likeness rendered in a distinctive glass‑based print. The image shows a bearded, curly‑haired figure set against a hazy, tangled backdrop, his eyes shadowed and expression solemn. The work exemplifies Corot’s interest in merging drawing and emerging photographic techniques during the mid‑nineteenth century.
Subject & Meaning
The portrait offers a direct, unembellished view of Corot, emphasizing the physical signs of age and contemplation. The stark lines and muted tonalities convey a sense of introspection, while the indistinct background suggests a fleeting, almost atmospheric environment that frames the sitter without distracting from his weary gaze.
Technique & Style
Corot employed the cliché‑verre process, a hybrid of photography and printmaking that involves inscribing images onto a glass plate and then exposing it to light to produce a print. The resulting work is characterized by rough, scratchy lines and a network of delicate strokes that create a fog‑like ambience, reflecting the artist’s experimental approach to image making.
History & Provenance
Produced during a period when Corot was bridging classical academic traditions and the nascent plein‑air practices that would later inform Impressionism, the piece stands as a rare example of his print activity. Though not widely reproduced at the time, the work has been retained in collections that document Corot’s diverse output beyond his well‑known landscape paintings.
Artist & collection
Artist
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (UK: KORR-oh, US: kə-ROH, kor-OH; French: ; 16 July 1796 – 22 February 1875), or simply Camille Corot, was a French landscape and portrait painter as well as a printmaker in etching.
