Camille Corot ALS Re: to Making a Print of His Painting

Camille Corot ALS Referring to Making a Print of His Painting

A 1p autograph letter in French inscribed overall and signed by French artist Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (1796-1875) as "C. Corot" in the lower right corner of the first page. Written in Paris, France on October 26, 1869 on bifold stationery. Expected wear including light toning, paper folds, and a few extra wrinkles. Unevenly torn along the bottom. The inner pages are blank. There is a pencil inscription by a former collector found on the outer page. Else near fine. 4" x 5." Accompanied by its original transmittal envelope also engrossed by Corot, bearing a cancelled Napoleon III stamp and a hand-stamped philatelic marking. Letter-opened along the top. Provenance: Ex-Noel Goldblatt (ca. 1926-2003) of the famous Goldblatt's Department Store, to a prominent Los Angeles, California collector.

Camille Corot wrote this letter to Auguste Rousseau of Paris, France. Rousseau was (as described in pencil on the reverse of the letter) "the possessor of a rich collection of paintings." This may be the same Auguste Rousseau whose collection of drawings, watercolors, and pastels was offered for public sale in March 1900 by the Galerie Georges Petit (the sale catalogue of which can still be purchased on Amazon.com at the time of this writing in August 2021!)

Corot wrote to Rousseau in part, "Would you be good enough to confer upon my friend Mr. Vernier, who must make a lithograph after [one of my paintings][?] it will only be for a few days…"

"Mr Vernier" almost certainly referred to Émile Vernier (1829-1887), a French painter and print maker whose lithographs after original work by Camille Corot, Charles-François Daubigny, Théodore Rousseau, Jean-François Millet, and Gustave Courbet proved extremely popular. Vernier's lithographs after Corot landscapes and rural scenes can be found in the collections of the British Museum and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. It is well-documented how Corot, who had attained commercial success by the end of his career, helped or otherwise financially supported many young, aging, and struggling artists along with their families. Was this request another example of Corot lending a helping hand to a fellow artist?

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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