Oil on canvas

44.5 × 53 cm. 17 1/2 x 20 7/8 in.

Signed in English on bottom right

LITERATURE
1905, L’Œuvre de Corot, catalogue raisonné et illustre, A. Robaut, Paris, vol. III, p. 214-215, no. 1894
EXHIBITION
1945, Paysages d’Eau Douce, Galerie Charpentier, Paris, no 29

PROVENANCE
with Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, circa 1870
Madame Vautrez, Paris, by 1879
with Galerie Tempelaere, Paris, 1888
with Boussod, Valladon et Cie., Paris, 23 April 1888
Collection Bruneau (possibly Louis-Charles-Bonaventure-Alfred Bruneau, 1857-1934), Paris, acquired directly from the above 29 November 1888
with Lawrie & Co., London, by 1890
M. Seddelmayer, London, 1891
Charles Albert Waltner, London, by 1891
Ernest Cognacq (1839-1928), Paris, by 1896
Gabriel Cognacq (1880-1951), Paris, by descent
Collection Gabriel Cognacq Sale, Galerie Charpentier, Paris, 14 May 1952, Lot 33
with Laing Galleries, Toronto, acquired at the above sale
The Purves Family Collection, Winnipeg, acquired directly from the above, 8 September 1953
Important Private Collection, Europe
Important Private Collection, Asia

Note: This work is attached with an exhibition label from Galerie Charpentier, Paris

This work is accompanied by a certification of authenticity issued by Martin Dieterle & Claire Lebeau

The Classicality and Romance Captured in the Sunrise
Soleil Levant, a classic of the European landscape master Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot
"I want to tell you that the good education received by all contemporary landscape painters, should be attributed to this discerning observer, Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot. He is gifted with a keen eye for the color of everything. His study on colors is more thorough than anyone else. After figuring out the principles, he presented them through his works, verifying them more and more successfully in everyday practice."
—Pierre-Auguste Renoir
The Master of All Masters, the Supreme Landscape
"I was born in Paris. Before I was 18, I studied at the Lycée Pierre-Corneille in Rouen. After graduation, I worked for a draper for eight years. Soon after, I started painting landscapes, and Achille Etna Michallon was my first teacher. After he passed away, I studied with Bertin in his studio. After that, I have been working and dealing with nature on my own. This is my life." This short autobiography concisely summarized the life of Corot. However, Corot’s painting career was long-lasting and orderly, which started in the early 1920s. In 1874, he participated in the first impressionist exhibition. Among his contemporaries were Jean-Baptiste David, Theodore Gericault, Eugène Delacroix, Jean-François Millet, Gustave Courbet, Édouard Manet and Claude Monet. Although he only began a formal artistic career at the age of 26, he’s gone through all significant art movements in the 19th century in Europe, from Classicism, Romanticism, Realism to Impressionism, and he’s rarely absent in the annual Salon de Paris for 30 years. His works were frequently acquired by important collectors and European royal families, and he has become one of the most celebrated landscape painters.
Despite the great success and reputation, he has never comforted to the business trend or new tide. Following the affection for nature, he traveled all over the world to seize the supreme beauty of mountains and seas, depicting the scenes in daylight and at night in soft tones. Without creating any painting style in his lifetime, he revived the French landscape painting which has been at a standstill for nearly two centuries, establishing his significant role in art history. For the Chinese art world, the works of Corot, true to nature and imbued with nostalgic sentiments, have influenced the landscape paintings of Pan Yuliang and Xu Beihong, and inspired a generation of painters to integrate the expressive colors of École de Fontainebleau and École de Barbizon into the Eastern aesthetics, and to explore the nationalization of Chinese landscape paintings.
The Clear Provenance is the Witness of Glory
In 1867, Corot exhibited seven key works in the Exposition Universelle in Paris, in addition to the winning of a second-class medal, he was awarded an Officer of Legion of Honor. In the following years, he participated in the Salon successively. The present work, Soleil Levant, was composed in the prime of Coro's artistic career. It was exhibited in 1945 at the exhibition, Paysages d'Eau Douce, held by Galerie Charpentier in Paris, and was included in the Complete Works of Corot. The provenance of the work is clear and orderly. At the end of the 19th century, it was with the influential Parisian art dealer, Galerie Georges Petit, which presented many Impressionist artists, then passed through many private collectors from throughout Europe, America, and Asia.
The Heart Sits Still by the Flowing Water; the Mind Remains at Ease as Drifting Clouds
"Nature transcends everything."
- Corot
The work, Soleil Levant, represents the lakeside scenery in the field with gentle strokes. The light pink morning glow shrouds the distant mountains. The sky in the foreground is covered with cumulus clouds, indicating a forthcoming summer rain. On the right, the vigorous tree and its dense canopy occupying half of the sky give out a warm breath of summer. By the lake in the center, two cows are drinking water quietly, while a shepherd is sitting by the big rock on the other side. The wild grass around the lake sways in the breeze, bringing subtle lyricism to the picture and setting off the tranquil atmosphere of people and nature living in harmony.
The composition of the painting shares the aesthetics of Souvenir de Mortefontaine, another masterpiece of Corot. The grass-flat, tree-flanked lake embodies a lofty natural spirit of all growing things and the four seasons. Moreover, the enclosed water space corresponds to the sky, bringing an ethereal mood to the picture. Corot's broad yet refined strokes reflect the artist's brilliant approach to the natural light in the open field. With a firming belief, he devoted all his life to nature and depicted the idealized scenes, becoming an immortal monument in the history of Western landscape painting.

Price estimate:
HKD: 1,300,000 - 2,300,000
USD: 166,700 - 294,900

Auction Result:
HKD: --