Resolution is set at 320×480 pixels. Instructions for downloading and using the wallpapers:

Right-click or control-click on the wallpaper you want to save.

Choose “Save as…” to save the image to your hard drive.

You can then sync your Corot wallpaper: Mac users can sync their iPhone with images in iPhoto 4.0.3 or or later. PC users can sync with Photoshop Album 2.0 or later, or Photoshop Elements 3.0.

Camille Corot painting, Souvenir of Italy, 1854

In recent years, the floodgates have opened for authenticating the work of 19th century artist Jean Baptiste Camille Corot. Due to imitators and other issues, a Camille Corot painting may be rejected by specialists. But we at Corot Expert’s have authenticated several of Camille Corot’s pieces and have found his work to be in great demand and surfacing often. He is now so highly regarded in the art world that critics and artists alike regard him as a rival to Cezanne.

Even if you have a painting that you think is a Corot but has been rejected by “specialists,” we can overturn that rejection by combining sophisticated scientific tests, rigorous analysis and meticulous research to authenticate the painting and find out the truth about it for you.

Your Corot painting deserves the most serious consideration possible- after all, he has been hailed by critics as being the father of Impressionism, before its time. While he spent most of his life detached from the art world, it was only towards the end of his career that up-and-coming artists such as Monet and Degas began to see the importance of his work, thus naming him le Père Corot–“The Father Corot.”

One only has to look at his work to see the vast difference in Corot’s style and the style of other late 19th Century bohemian Parisians. But sometimes big auction houses, like big companies, let things slip through the cracks and don‘t realize what they have. Sometimes people don’t have the time to do things carefully and they make mistakes. Individual specialists can also have knee-jerk reactions against authenticating paintings, and the absence of a good chain of ownership can scare specialists off altogether.

There are a myriad of reasons why auction houses and specialists reject paintings. Here are a few more:

• The information you sent the specialist was not clear or was misunderstood, and the specialist did not bother to ask for clarification.
• The photos of your painting did not show enough detail.
• Something you said or wrote sparked an irrational reaction that something is amiss, that the painting could be a fake.
• The “specialist” is not really an expert in Camille Corot art.
• Your information was not reviewed by a busy specialist but by an assistant.
• The painting was different in some way than the best-known works of the artist.
• The painting is not in the catalogue raisonné for Camille Corot.
• Some “specialists” offer free authentications.  Free authentications do not come with in-depth research, and it is likely the specialist only glanced at your pictures and information for a moment. 

Corot is popular because while many of his contemporaries were painting scenes with social, mystery or hidden meanings, Corot just loved the outdoors and simply painted to bring out the beauty of his favorite subjects. This is obvious in every one of his paintings. His compositions were almost always clearly organized and balanced, which attribute to the aesthetically pleasing nature of his paintings, like his “Memory of Montefontaine.”

Corot was also a master, studying under well-known painters such as classical landscapist painter Michallon, even though he considered himself self-taught. He traveled France, Rome and abroad extensively for formal schooling at the Atelier Suiss and also became associated with the Barbizon school.

In his time, Corot was a neo-Classical Realist painter, but he often abandoned the methods he learned in “Classical” school. His methods of using light were remarkable, and he was fond of using loose brushstrokes that became common among the Impressionists that followed him. But unlike the Impressionists, he did not employ a lighter color palate but instead used the darker tones and shading in the style of the old masters. This is what makes him unique.

Above all, Corot was a master landscape painter. Sometimes employing the plein-air technique, and other times sketching his scenes outdoors and finishing them at the studio. This set the ground works of Impressionism, thus making him so highly regarded and his paintings in such great demand.

However, an issue specific to Corot is his work was often imitated, partially due to his generous nature of lending out his paintings as “inspiration” to other painters at the time. It is rumored that among such artists was Andre Julien Prevost who passed off his own work as Corot’s. And it is said that in some circumstances, Corot took pity on his pupils and friends and lent his signature or artistic hand to their works.

This has become a problem with certain aspects of authenticating a Corot. Certain dating methods will show that a forged piece is from the same era as Corot—aging or older oil paints and canvas for example. And unfortunately because sometimes specialists are “technophobes” or only deal with pictures in person, your painting can be rejected out-of-hand with little attention or consideration.

However, a trained eye and a knowledgeable authenticator will be able to tell the difference from a forged Corot or an original, and we at Corot Experts offer this. So do not be discouraged if you think that you may own an original Corot, be it a watercolor, oil painting or print.

Corot was a very prolific artist, and painted up until his death, leaving a massive oeuvre of work behind him. And while he was a sincere and sometimes contrary painter whose generous nature with his name and artwork is leaving some authenticators baffled still today due to imitators, we can help.

Our experts have years of experience to properly authenticate your paintings and drawings by Jean Baptiste Camille Corot. We use electronic methods, forensic procedures, special digital photography, documentary investigation, traditional art connoisseurship and other scientific tests to get a critical look at a painting in order to make a qualified, educated judgment and discover if the artwork is a genuine Corot work. We also have our own researchers available in France in the event a particular case needs us to conduct research there. Our  researchers are with French museums, giving us direct access to the Corot archives.

Even if you think your painting has been improperly rejected, we can help. We’ve assisted many clients in your predicament with a rejected Corot painting. So stop wondering if a painting in your family collection or possibly even hanging on your wall is a Camille Corot. Contact us. We’ll treat the question of the authenticity of your painting with the utmost respect.

For a more confidential consultation and authentication, please e-mail us at info@corotexperts.com or call us at 1-718-412-3924.