The Lonely Tower
1871 · Transfer lithograph in black on tan China paper laid down on white wove paper · Chine: 21.9 × 27.7 cm (8 5/8 × 10 15/16 in.); Sheet: 40 × 57.1 cm (15 3/4 × 22 1/2 in.)
Corot, The Lonely Tower, 1871. Transfer lithograph in black on tan China paper laid down on white wove paper.
The Art Institute of Chicago · William McCallin McKee Memorial Endowment
How to look at a Corot
- Squint first. Count the masses. If you count more than four, squint harder.
- Find the lightest light (nearly always sky, or water reflecting sky) and the darkest dark (nearly always a foreground tree trunk or a shadow under foliage). Everything else sits between them.
- In the Italian graphite sheets, notice how much paper is untouched and how few lines describe a whole hill town. Then notice that every one of those lines is exactly placed.
- In the late charcoals, look for where an edge disappears: a trunk into shadow, a hill into sky. Those lost edges are the air.
- In the etchings, half-close your eyes until the lines vanish and only tones remain. That is what he was building.
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