Unknown_Corot-2012

3 . Study of a Young Italian Boy , c. 1825–6

Graphite on paper 9 ½ × 10 ½ inches ( 24 . 1 × 26 . 7 cm)

provenance Paris Art Market; Jill Newhouse Gallery ( 2003 ).

Private Collection

This sensitively drawn study of an adolescent dates from Corot’s first trip to Italy ( 1825–28 ). The figure’s hat, short jacket and breeches are identical to those worn by the sitter in Corot’s well-known figure painting, Jeune italien assis dans la Chambre de Corot à Rome (R II, no. 57 , Musée des Beaux-Arts, Reims). The painting and drawing probably represent the same young man and both works were evidently done from life. Robaut dates the painting to the winter of 1825–26 , shortly after Corot’s arrival in Rome, a period in which he executed a number of figure studies that place the sitter on a trunk in the artist’s studio: “. . . He rented a little room near the Spanish Steps. Unfortunately, at the beginning, the rain often keeps him shut up indoors; he is reduced to painting whatever is outside his window, or seats upon his trunk an Italian whom he met on the street, and has him pose for him while waiting for the bad weather to end” (Robaut I, p. 30 ). Corot made many figure studies during his first Italian sojourn, but was particularly attached to the aforementioned painting. He made several versions of it, including one now in the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. ( Italian Peasant Boy , 1825–27 , 1963 . 10 . 8 ) and another recorded by Robaut as Jeune italien assis (R II, no. 58 , c. 1855 , location unknown), which transposes the figure in a landscape, recasting him as a recumbent shepherd. In the original painting, the figure is clearly placed in the painter’s studio. The corner of a stretched canvas is evident in the upper right, and one of Corot’s oil sketches is depicted on the wall.

This drawing and related paintings belong to a genre, the peasant costume study, which was perfected by artists such as Michallon, Corot’s first teacher. But whereas Michallon’s studies emphasize the elaborate patterns and textures of the costumes, Corot was often equally or more interested in the figures’ pose, facial expression and physiognomy. Such studies would also assist Corot in his peopling of landscape compositions. As finely observed studies of individuals, these paintings and drawings point the way to Corot’s outstanding portrait paintings and drawings of the 1830 s, including Little Girl Asleep and Seated Camaldolese Monk (nos. 11 , 13 ).

Jeune italien assis dans la Chambre de Corot à Rome , 1825–26 , Musée des Beaux Arts, Reims