The Forest of Coubron

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot

National Gallery of Art

A person rides a horse away from us on a narrow dirt path curving through a forest dominated by golden yellow trees in this vertical landscape painting. A boulder about twice the width of the path is backlit where it sits just left of the lower center of the canvas. The path begins near the bottom right corner of the painting and curves back and to the right. The horse is white, and the rider wears dark brown pants and a hat, and a lighter brown shirt. Trees towering over the rider to either side of the curve nearly reach the top of the composition. The horizon comes less than a third of the way up the painting. Pearly white sky fills in the gap between the trees around the rider, and ivory-colored clouds frame an icy blue sky above. The scene is painted with textured and blended strokes, which gives the painting a soft look even though some of the brushstrokes are visible. The artist signed and dated the lower center of the canvas, though it is partially cut off: “COROT 1872.”