Of inspiration for the Josep Font’s,

Delpozo Collection,  s/s 2014

was the portrait painting

(image from allposters.com):

Gypsy Woman with a Tamborine

(images from nationalgalleryorg.uk):

by 19th century French painter

Jean Batiste Camille Corot,   1785   –  1875

(self portrait, Uffizi Gallery, Florence)

…

 Corot was a gifted artist.

His paintings of figures were beautiful

delicate,   subdued, pensive.

…

Yet, Corot is more widely recognised as one of

the most celebrated landscape painter of his era.

He was a main figure of the Barbizon School ,

which was comprised of French artists  who

loved nature and worked en pleine air ( outdoors).

In an attempt to realism, they created from direct observation

What resulted were compositions

freed from artistic conventions.

…

Many would argue that Corot paved the way for

the generation of artists who immediately followed –

the Impressionists.

They too worked en plein air,  a full sensory experience

which translated into their work.

Yet, theirs was interpretive of what was observed, while

Corot’s  oeuvre was an attempt at realism,

to re-create as seen by the naked eye.

…

“There is only one master here – Corot.

We are nothing compared to him.

 Nothing.”

Claude Monet, 1897

 (Impressionist painter)

…