The Banks of the Seine at Conflans

Camille Corot

ca. 1865–70 · Oil on canvas · European Paintings

In 1868, about the time this work was painted, the aspiring artist Odilon Redon noted Corot’s advice "to place an unknown next to a known" in his compositions. That approach to picture-making is evident in this scene of workers, which has a ring of familiarity although the precise labor depicted resists identification. It is replete with details, such as the fruit on the tree at the center and the lettering on the sign at the top right, that favor painterly qualities over legibility. Yet the painting appears to be far more grounded in observation than the landscapes Corot typically conjured in his later years.

Artist

Camille Corot

Date

ca. 1865–70

Medium

Oil on canvas

Department

European Paintings

Credit line

Bequest of Eloise Lawrence Breese Norrie, 1921