The Thinker

"The Thinker," created by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (French, 1796-1875) in 1854, stands as a fascinating example of early experimentation in photographic printmaking. This intimate print utilizes the innovative cliché-verre technique, a hybrid process that bridged traditional drawing and nascent photography among artists in 19th-century France. Corot, primarily renowned for his luminous landscape paintings and association with the Barbizon school, executed this piece by first etching or drawing directly onto a glass plate prepared with an opaque coating.

The method required the artist to scratch through the coating, allowing light to pass through specific areas when the plate was exposed in contact with sensitized photographic paper. The resulting image, transferred onto ivory photographic paper, retains the spontaneity of Corot's hand-drawn line while achieving the soft tonal depth characteristic of early photographic prints. This technique, developed around 1853, enabled the artist to rapidly reproduce evocative studies like this one, depicting an ambiguous figure potentially resting or lost in quiet contemplation.

Corot’s willingness to engage with this experimental medium underscores his interest in exploring new technologies that offered an alternative to established printmaking methods like etching and lithography. Though categorized as a print, the unique material characteristics of cliché-verre give it a distinct classification. This delicate work, which helps contextualize the evolution of French artistic practices in the mid-1850s, is preserved within the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.