Artwork
Souvenir of Terracina
Souvenir of Terracina is an oil painting by the Impressionist artist Jean Baptiste Camille Corot. It dates from 1864 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Technique & Style
Its handling reflects Corot’s late plein-air practice, with softly blended passages and silvery tonality that unify sky, sea, and distant headland.
The work is an oil painting on canvas measuring 66.04 cm in height and 81.28 cm in width.
Its handling reflects Corot’s late plein-air practice, with softly blended passages and silvery tonality that unify sky, sea, and distant headland. Thin, liquid glazes articulate foliage and water, while broader scumbles suggest atmospheric recession. The composition balances horizontal bands of light, sky and sea, against vertical accents of cypress and distant architecture, creating a rhythmic, planar structure typical of Corot’s mature landscapes.
History & Provenance
Commissioned in 1864 by the Société des Amis des Arts de Douai via Alfred Robaut, the work was returned to Corot and later held by Hector Brame in Paris by 1900.
It next belonged to Paul Gallimard, who lent it to the Exposition Universelle of 1900 before it passed through Galerie Georges Petit in Paris. On 18 February 1919, M. Knoedler & Co. in New York acquired the painting and sold it in January 1920 to William A. Clark. After Clark’s death in 1925, it entered the Corcoran Gallery of Art through his bequest and was transferred to the National Gallery of Art in 2014.
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot's Souvenir of Terracina is currently held by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., having been acquired there in 2014. The work entered the collection via bequest from William A. Clark to the Corcoran Gallery of Art in 1926. Prior to its transfer to the Corcoran, the painting was sold to Clark in January 1920 by M. Knoedler and Co., New York, which had purchased it in February 1919.
Earlier provenance includes ownership by Paul Gallimard by 1900 and the dealer Hector Brame in Paris. The painting was exhibited at the Exposition Universelle in 1900, where it was lent by Gallimard and cataloged as number 30.
Context
Souvenir of Terracina, painted by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot in 1864 with slight later revisions, was exhibited at the Exposition Universelle de 1900 and later loaned by Paul Gallimard to that exhibition.
The work entered the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington through a series of transactions involving the Société des Amis des Arts de Douai, Hector Brame, Paul Gallimard, M. Knoedler and Co., and William A. Clark, who bequeathed it to the Corcoran Gallery of Art in 1926.
Scholarship on Corot’s landscapes often emphasizes his role in bridging classical tradition and early Impressionism, and this painting is studied as an example of his nuanced treatment of light and topography within the French landscape genre.
Contextual analyses note its inclusion in major Corot retrospectives and its significance in tracing the evolution of plein-air sensibility in 19th-century European art.
Overview
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot’s oil on canvas titled “Souvenir of Terracina” presents a tranquil coastal landscape. A solitary, expansive tree dominates the left foreground, while the right side opens onto a calm sea dotted with distant vessels and modest structures. The composition balances land and water, inviting the viewer into a quiet, sun‑lit moment.
Subject & Meaning
The work captures a leisurely encounter between humanity and nature, suggesting a pause in everyday travel along the Italian shoreline. Figures, though not central, are implied through the presence of boats and buildings, emphasizing the harmonious coexistence of human activity within a serene natural setting.
Own this work as a print
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.
