Church in Marissel, Camille Corot, 1866

Description of the picture:

The church in Marissel is Camille Corot. 1866. Oil on canvas. 55×42

   The work was done in the era of the artist’s creative maturity, when the painter could afford to create in several manners. This is due to the search for new aesthetic forms. The church in Marissel, the painter painted a couple of times at different times of the day, trying "to grab" the most expressive light. The impressionists will later use this experience, but in the works of Koro, the momentary and instantaneous sketches of the painters of the subsequent artistic direction are only slightly outlined.

   Before the viewer, the work is completely completed, based on the convictions of academism. It is difficult to realize whether this is a morning landscape or an evening one. The master seemed to leave this riddle to the public, who was delighted with the work when it was exhibited in the salon.

   Koro experiments in the style of the Dutch landscape. A small local church surrounded by a grove. With all the efforts to convey spring waking, the work looks static. Human figures are motionless. The creator fixes them so that "equalize" the dynamics of the spring season and man.

   A pond resembling a huge puddle faster reflects a dim cloudy sky. The whole picture looks very small, which is so typical of the Dutch landscape. The tops of the trees support the sky, and a clear perspective leads the viewer away to the church, which plays a secondary role in the work."