"Souvenir Du Phare de Cayeaux" by Corot

Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot (French, 1796-1875)
Souvenir Du Phare de Cayeux, 1855-1860
oil on canvas
signed l.l.
7" x 17.25" (sight)
15.5" x 23.5" (framed)

Accompanied by an original receipt of purchase from Galeries Georges Petit, 28 June, 1916

A remarkable and recently discovered work by Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot (French, 1796-1875), depicting the lighthouse in Cayeux, on the northern coast of France. A horizontal landscape, depicting the lighthouse in the distance (it was destroyed by the Germans in 1941 and later rebuilt), as well as the fringes of the town of Cayeux, the waterline, and a lone figure in the foreground.

The work is listed in Alfred Robaut's L'ouevre de Corot, Volume II, pg. 382, as No.1223, and is also accompanied by a drawn image reference, understood to have been composed by Robaut himself during a visit to the residence of Parisian art dealer "M. Gerard" in 1879. Robaut was an accomplished draughtsman, as well as friend and authority of Corot's body of work, and many corresponding images in the catalog raisonne were produced by his hand.

Remarkably, an original receipt of purchase has remained with the work offered here. In June 28, 1916, "Madame" Lucien Wulsin, of the Baldwin Piano Company family in Cincinnati, purchased the work for 9,000 francs. The work descended in her family until the present day. It is likely that Mrs. Wulsin was making a Grand Tour through Europe during the summer of 1916, and frequented Gallerie Georges Petit. The receipt is a wonderful piece of ephemera in its own right, bearing an elaborately engraved emblem of the gallery, gallery address, "Madame" Lucien Wulsin's hotel (The Langham), a custom's stamp dated August 12, 1916, and finally, the title, which corresponds precisely to Robaut's noting of the title in the raisonne.

Georges Petit (French, 1856-1920) was a powerful force in the Parisian art market during the latter 19th and early 20th centuries. He was especially critical in pioneering the work of the impressionists, and it stands to reason he would have carried Corot, who heralded the movement. It was noted of Petit by Emile Zola that he "would wait... for the Americans to arrive in Paris every May. And what he bought for 10,000 francs, he sold for 40,000." It was fashionable for well-to-do Americans to make the "Grand Tour" during the summer months, and often they would return with fine and decorative art.

"Madame" Lucien Wulsin, was of the Wulsin family in Cincinnati, OH. Lucien Wulsin (1845-1912) was the first President of the Baldwin Piano Company. The business remained in the family for several generations, and was at its height in the early 20th century. Lucien Wulsin passed away in Paris, and he and his wife frequented the city often during the early 20th century.

Souvenir du Phare de Cayeux has not been offered on the market since its purchase in 1916. A fine opportunity.

Provenance

The artist, 1855-1860
M. Gerard, Paris, his residence, 1879
Galeries Georges Petit, 1916
Acquired from the above by "Madame" Lucien Wulsin, 1916
Descended directly in the family and offered here
Condition Report: The work contains some vertical craquelure throughout, and also surface film. It could stand a light cleaning, and we elected to keep the work in its current state of preservation. The canvas was removed from its original stretcher and wax lined, then laid over a panel. The perimeter shows some losses to the canvas and some minor scuffing. Under UV light, a very few scattered areas of inpainting are revealed, though none are present near the signature. The landscape portion of the work has very little inpainting, the sky a few scattered areas.