Souvenir de Mortefontaine (Recollection of Mortefontaine) is an oil painting created by French painter Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot in 1864. He was a key figure in landscape painting and the leading painter of the Barbizon school of France in the mid-19th century. In Souvenir de Mortefontaine, Corot painted the scene of Mortefontaine, a small village in northern France. Corot made several visits to the area and deeply attracted by the beautiful sceneries there. However, it was not a scene from real life, instead, it was from Corot’s recollections of his visits to the village.
Souvenir de Mortefontaine is considered as one of the masterpieces of Corot. It depicts a scene of tranquility. A glass-flat lake is covered by thin morning fog. A big leafy tree stretch up into the sky, green and full of energy, showing how strong life is. On the left side of the big tree stands a little tree with new leaves stretch up in the same direction with the big one. The sinuous of the branches create a sense of flow, exuding the vitality of nature. The sunlight sprays over the lake and gross with colorful flowers and tender grass. The lake reflects the distant mount as a flat mirror. Under the smaller tree, a woman in red dress is picking fruits, a girl is getting flowers on the gross, and a boy is looking up and point to the fruits on the tree. Corot combined nature and human beings, and made it in a harmonious atmosphere. Corot created a wonderful dream through the oil painting. It is so breathtaking and real that we would almost feel the sunlight and breeze, giving people in busy a release of soul and comfort of mind.
Souvenir Of Mortefontaine 1864
