In the Light of Italy: Corot and Early Open-Air Painting
With essays by curators from the organizing museums, this well-produced catalog of an exhibition traveling to Washington, Brooklyn, and St. Louis in 1996-97 demonstrates that open-air painting was practiced well before the Impressionists brought it into the public eye. The open-air oil sketches shown here, produced chiefly for practical study and studio use by an international group of artists, many from northern Europe, are now attractive in themselves to modern viewers. Through the exposure to this tradition he found in Rome, Camille Corot (1796-1875) transmitted the idea of working directly from nature back to France and later painters there. Two more general essays, Conisbee on a history of open-air paintings and Sarah Faunce on Rome as a source and site for painters in this period (1780-1840), are excellent. Entries on the 120+ works are accessible and clear. Recommended for both general and special collections.?Jack Perry Brown, Art Inst. of Chicago Lib.Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.