This small panel, probably done in the 1860s, was evidently well known and admired in Corot's circle of friends. Both Constant Dutilleux (1807–1865) and Charles Desavary (1837–1885), two painters living in Arras, a town in northern France that Corot often visited, copied the painting. About 1873 Corot gave it to his patron Cléophas, who had provided him with a supplementary studio where he could work undisturbed.
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Title:Mother and Child
Artist:Camille Corot (French, Paris 1796–1875 Paris)
Date:probably 1860s
Medium:Oil on wood
Dimensions:12 3/4 x 8 7/8 in. (32.4 x 22.5 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Gift of Mrs. P. H. B. Frelinghuysen, 1930
Object Number:30.13
Inscription: Signed (lower right): COROT
Cléophas (Alfred Baron), Paris (ceded to him by the artist in 1873–74); Jules Paros Paton, Paris (until 1883; his sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, April 24, 1883, no. 40, as "La Mère," for Fr 1,400 to Doria); comte Armand Doria, Paris (from 1883); Mrs. H. O. (Louisine W.) Havemeyer, New York (probably by 1913–d. 1929; cat., 1931, pp. 66–67, ill.); her daugher, Adaline Havemeyer Frelinghuysen, Morristown, N.J. (1929–30)
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The H. O. Havemeyer Collection," March 10–November 2, 1930, no. 20 [2nd ed., 1958, no. 73].
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Barbizon: French Landscapes of the Nineteenth Century," February 4–May 10, 1992, no catalogue.
Alfred Robaut. L'Œuvre de Corot: Catalogue raisonné et illustré. [reprint 1965]. Paris, 1905, vol. 3, p. 50, no. 1380, ill. p. 51, calls it "Mère allaitant son enfant" and dates it 1860–70; comments that Corot made many variations of this composition; notes that a copy of this picture by Ch. Desavary is in Robaut's own collection.
August F. Jaccaci. "Figure Pieces of Corot in America: II." Art in America 2 (December 1913), pp. 1–2, calls it "Jeune mère asseyant son enfant sur l'herbe" and dates it 1865–70; mentions that "The Muse: History" (R1388, MMA 29.100.193) dates from the same period and that both show Corot's increasing preoccupation with rich color combined with a graver and more meditative mood
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C. Bernheim de Villers. Corot: Peintre de figures. Paris, 1930, p. 55, no. 215, ill., calls it "Mère allaitant son enfant".
Harry B. Wehle. "The Exhibition of the H. O. Havemeyer Collection." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 25 (March 1930), p. 56.
H. O. Havemeyer Collection: Catalogue of Paintings, Prints, Sculpture and Objects of Art. n.p., 1931, pp. 66–67, ill., calls it "Figure Piece—Mother and Child" and dates it between 1860 and 1870.
Josephine L. Allen and Elizabeth E. Gardner. A Concise Catalogue of the European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1954, p. 21.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The H. O. Havemeyer Collection. 2nd ed. New York, 1958, pp. 14–15, no. 73.
Charles Sterling and Margaretta M. Salinger. French Paintings: A Catalogue of the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 2, XIX Century. New York, 1966, p. 56, ill.
Jacques Foucart. Letters. August 15 and October 5, 1968, discusses two copies of this painting, by Charles Desavary (Foucart collection) and Constant Dutilleux (Renard-Bellon collection).
François Chamoux et al. "Copies, répliques, faux. IV. Le XIXe siècle. Les modèles élusifs et le 'musée des copies'." Revue de l'art no. 21 (1973), pp. 25–26, figs. 27, 27 bis (overall and detail), calls it "Maternité" and reproduces the copies by Desavary (private collection, Paris) and Dutilleux (private collection, Berck).
Susan Alyson Stein inSplendid Legacy: The Havemeyer Collection. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1993, p. 286.
Gretchen Wold inSplendid Legacy: The Havemeyer Collection. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1993, p. 308, no. A103, ill.
Katharine Baetjer. European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art by Artists Born Before 1865: A Summary Catalogue. New York, 1995, p. 406, ill.
Michael Pantazzi inCorot. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1996, p. 157 n. 11 [French ed., "Corot 1796–1875," Paris, p. 209 n. 12].
Gary Tinterow inCorot. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1996, p. 352 n. 3 [French ed., "Corot 1796–1875," Paris, p. 410 n. 5].
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