Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot was born on July 16, 1796, in Paris. Before dedicating himself to painting at the age of 26, he was a trained cloth merchant.
Corot was renowned for his works even during his lifetime and sold his art with notable financial success. This success is attributed to the astute marketing of his works. Corot, who neither married nor had children, donated a large portion of his earnings to charitable organizations, primarily benefiting the poor and orphans.
Corot primarily painted landscapes and women. His paintings are distinguished by the delicate colors with which he captured the mood of a place. Mood painting was his forte, and after 1850, he perfected this art. He was considered the leading landscape painter of France and is among the most frequently forged artists worldwide. However, he was partly responsible for this: He did not sign every work, gave away paintings with and without signatures, had copies made himself, or explicitly allowed the reproduction of some paintings.
Corot significantly influenced Impressionism and was the main representative of the Barbizon School, a group of French landscape painters. Many artists claimed to have been trained by him. His most notable pupil was Camille Pissarro.
Corot died at the age of 78 in Paris, where he was also buried at the Père Lachaise Cemetery.
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