Mademoiselle de Foudras 1872

Camille Corot painted Mademoiselle de Foudras using oil on canvas. The application of the paint is crucial to how we read this image. Corot used a limited palette with a range of muted tones, creating a hazy, dreamlike atmosphere. Close observation reveals the nuances of his brushwork, with delicate strokes in some areas and broad, sweeping gestures in others. The thick impasto adds a tactile quality. The very act of painting, with its gestures and layers, imbues the portrait with meaning. The artist’s labor becomes palpable. Consider that oil paint in this period was already industrially produced and relatively cheap, and the canvas was factory-made. Corot bought his materials, rather than making them. Focusing on the materiality and making of the painting reminds us to look beyond the subject matter and consider the artist’s hand, the quality of the materials, and their social context.