Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot

Throughout his life, Corot painted the ponds and forests around Ville d’Avray, a village outside Paris where his family had a home. As here, the scenes he depicted were still and intimate, shallow in depth, and infused with an atmospheric blue-gray haze. He painted many versions of these views, calling them souvenirs in reference to their recurrence in his memory. His landscapes sometimes provided the backdrops for overtly classical subjects, but in this example the view itself is as significant as the figures gathering wildflowers.