Willows and White Poplars

Willows and White Poplars, created by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot in 1871, is a significant example of the artist’s late graphic output. This sophisticated print is a transfer lithograph, skillfully executed using brown ink on a delicate light gray China paper. This sheet was then laid down onto a white wove paper support, testifying to the specialized techniques utilized for high-quality nineteenth-century prints.

The complexity of the printing process required the expertise of the renowned Parisian firm Lemercier et Compagnie, with the final piece published by Dessins Originaux, Edites. Corot, widely celebrated as a pre-Impressionist master of landscape painting, extended his characteristic lyrical vision into the graphic medium during the final years of his life. This work captures a tranquil scene dominated by the delicate, shifting foliage of the titular willows and poplars, rendered with the atmospheric softness and tonal subtlety characteristic of the Barbizon School influence.

The use of brown ink instead of traditional black lends the piece a warm, sepia-like quality, suggesting the immediacy and intimacy of a preparatory drawing. This mature work reflects Corot's sustained preoccupation with the natural landscape of France, moving beyond mere topographical representation to evoke mood, light, and atmosphere. The decision to produce this image as a fine print allowed for wider dissemination of the artist's aesthetic sensibility. As a major example of Corot’s later prints, Willows and White Poplars is preserved in the extensive collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, making the image highly accessible to the public domain for scholarly research and appreciation.