Chalk Cliffs near Yport

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (1796 - 1875), 1872

oil on canvas, 43 cm x 59.3 cm
The Mesdag Collection, The Hague

The French artist Camille Corot painted this coastal view on the beach at Yport in Normandy in July 1872. First he drew the most important contours on the canvas, and then painted the beach, cliffs, sea, and sky in one go. He only added the figures in the foreground later, back in his atelier.

Corot preferred painting out of doors. He is primarily known as one of the first artists to work in the forest near Barbizon. He went to this village for the first time in 1828, returning there often in the following years. Corot was an avid traveller, also abroad. In 1872 he traversed France and this was one of the paintings he made on that trip.

Object number

hwm0067

Credits

The Mesdag Collection, The Hague

Dimensions

43cm x 59.3cm, 74cm x 90.4cm, 11cm