Shepherd Struggling with a Goat (Berger luttant avec sa chevre)

Shepherd Struggling with a Goat (Berger luttant avec sa chevre) is a compelling work created in 1874 by the renowned French artist Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot. This piece is classified as a print, executed using the innovative 19th-century photographic process known as cliché-verre (glass print). Corot was one of the most prominent practitioners of this relatively rare technique, which involved coating a glass plate with a light-sensitive mixture, then using a needle or stylus to scratch the image directly onto the surface. The resulting plate was then utilized as a photographic negative and exposed onto light-sensitive paper, yielding prints with soft, painterly tonalities distinct from traditional etching or lithography.

The subject matter captures a dynamic moment: a shepherd grappling with a powerful, resisting goat. Unlike many of Corot's better-known pastoral landscapes, which emphasize tranquility and diffused light, this composition focuses on the tangible effort of human interaction with nature’s challenges. The strong, dark lines produced by the cliché-verre process enhance the visual tension, grounding the figures in a dramatic struggle that contrasts with the ethereal quality often associated with the artist’s oil paintings.

Corot executed this work toward the close of the period spanning 1851 to 1875, a time when French artists were actively experimenting with mediums that bridged drawing, printmaking, and early photography. This particular piece demonstrates Corot’s technical versatility and his interest in expanding his output beyond traditional painting. This significant print, recognized for its contribution to graphic arts, resides in the extensive collection of the National Gallery of Art, providing crucial documentation of the evolution of printmaking techniques during this influential 19th-century period.