Artwork
Agostina
Agostina is an oil painting by the Impressionist artist Jean Baptiste Camille Corot. It dates from 1866 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
- Inscription
- Inscribed:lower left: COROT
About this work
The painting "Agostina" by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, created in 1866, features a woman standing in front of a landscape.
The painting "Agostina" by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, created in 1866, features a woman standing in front of a landscape. She is dressed in a dark dress with a white top and a red and white floral patterned apron. The woman's attire is complemented by a blue sleeve on her right arm, and she wears a brown headband.
Her dark hair is pulled back, and she has a pearl necklace around her neck. The background of the painting is a landscape with buildings and trees.
The woman in the painting appears to be a working-class individual, as evidenced by her attire and the setting. The artist's use of color and composition creates a sense of depth and realism in the painting.
For more information on the artist's style and techniques, you can explore the works of Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot.
Technique & Style
The work is an oil painting executed on canvas, measuring 132.4 centimeters in height and 97.6 centimeters in width. Corot applied oil paint to the canvas surface, building layers of translucent brushwork that render the sitter’s features with a soft, atmospheric quality. The composition emphasizes a quiet, introspective presence, achieved through delicate tonal modulation and restrained line.
The painting’s handling reflects the artist’s mature approach to portraiture, balancing realism with a lyrical, almost poetic rendering of light and texture.
These formal qualities align with Corot’s broader stylistic tendencies, wherein he merged academic precision with a poetic sensibility, producing works that balance meticulous detail with a sense of fleeting ambience.
The canvas remains in stable condition, having been preserved within the National Gallery of Art’s collection since its acquisition in 1931.
History & Provenance
Agostina, painted by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot in 1866, entered the Paris market through dealer Breysse by 1875 and was later owned by collector Jules Paton before passing to Goupil and Cie, then Boussod Valadon et Cie.
The work was sold in 1908 to Josse and Gaston Bernheim and remained in the Bernheim-Jeune gallery collection through 1909.
In June 1931, Etienne Bignou facilitated its acquisition from the Bernheims for Chester Dale, who bequeathed the painting to the National Gallery of Art in 1963.
Agostina is an oil on canvas portrait painted by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot in 1866. The work entered the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., through the bequest of Chester Dale in 1963. Its provenance traces a path from the Paris dealer Breysse by 1875, through sales to Jules Paton, then to Boussod Valadon et Cie, Josse et Gaston Bernheim, and finally to Bernheim-Jeune before its acquisition by Dale.
The painting was lent to exhibitions in 1875 at the École des Beaux-Arts and in 1909 at the Salon d'Automne, where it was titled _l'Italienne Agostina_.
The work remains in the National Gallery of Art's collection as of the latest documented record.
Context
Agostina is an 1866 oil on canvas portrait by Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot, classified as a painting in the portrait genre. Its early ownership included the Paris dealer Breysse, who exhibited it at the 1875 Exposition de l'oeuvre de Corot in Paris[1], followed by collectors such as Jean-Baptiste Faure and Jules Paton[2]. The work subsequently passed through the stock books of Goupil et Cie and Boussod Valadon et Cie before being sold to Josse and Gaston Bernheim in 1908[3], then to Chester Dale in 1931[4], and finally bequeathed to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., where it remains in the collection[4].
Overview
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot’s 1866 oil on canvas, titled Agostina, presents a solitary woman positioned before a modest landscape. The composition balances the figure’s dark dress and white blouse with a red‑and‑white floral apron, while a blue‑sleeved arm and brown headband add muted accents. A pearl necklace rests at her throat, and the background hints at distant buildings and trees, establishing a quiet, everyday scene.
Subject & Meaning
The sitter appears to be a working‑class woman, suggested by her practical clothing and simple accessories. Corot’s straightforward rendering avoids idealization, aligning the portrait with Realist concerns for truthful representation of ordinary people. The juxtaposition of the figure against a rural backdrop underscores a connection between labor and landscape, inviting contemplation of daily life in mid‑nineteenth‑century France.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (UK: KORR-oh, US: kə-ROH, kor-OH; French:; 16 July 1796 – 22 February 1875), or simply Camille Corot, was a French landscape and portrait painter as well as a printmaker in etching.
