Corot

Allnutt, SidneyProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.5

Word count: 56K words
Chapters: 6

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Corot by Sidney AllnuttAuthor: Allnutt, Sidney,Language: English, Class: ND: Fine Arts: Painting, Release Date: Dec 20, 2012

Editor's review

This is an English-language critical biography of the French landscape master Corot, a public-domain art e-book. Organized around Corot's career and painting style, it serves as an introductory guide to the nineteenth-century French landscape tradition. Its strengths are its concise length and plain language: no specialized art-historical background is needed to follow the narrative, and for readers who want to encounter Western art criticism in the original English, it is also a lightweight corpus. It lends itself to short sessions at a desk or on an e-reader, as background before a museum visit, or as a starting point for art lovers tracing Corot's ties to the Barbizon school. Note that the book was written long ago, and its views and historical framework bear the marks of its era; it is best read against contemporary scholarship, not treated as the sole authority.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Beginners interested in Western landscape painting and nineteenth-century French art
Art lovers who want to learn about Corot's life and style in the original English
Museum visitors seeking background before an exhibition
Art and foreign-language students practicing English reading in art criticism

Not a good fit for

Readers of coffee-table books who need high-resolution plates and print-quality images
Specialist researchers seeking the latest scholarship and contemporary perspectives
Readers without basic English proficiency and no parallel translation

Reading tips

Skim the table of contents to locate the chapters on Corot's life and stylistic periods, then return to the discussion of individual works.
While reading, consult Corot images available online to make up for the e-book's limited plates.
After each chapter, jot two or three sentences of key points to help connect Corot with his contemporaries.
Readers who struggle with English can start with a Chinese translation or a chapter of a general art history, then return to the original.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this a picture book or a written biography?

The available information indicates a primarily textual critical biography, a public-domain e-book focused on Corot's life and style rather than high-resolution plates. To study individual paintings closely, pair it with museum websites or public image resources.

Can I understand it without a background in art history?

Yes. The language is plain, the book is concise, and the narrative is relatively clear, making it suitable as an introduction. Look up proper names or school names as they come up; for a more systematic approach, read a little general knowledge of nineteenth-century French painting first.

Anything to keep in mind when reading the e-edition?

The layout and illustration quality of public-domain e-books vary by edition, so do not rely on the in-book plates to judge details of the works. Follow the text as the main thread and leave image viewing to external resources, and note that the book is old, so some views should be checked against contemporary scholarship.

Comments

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About the author

Allnutt, Sidney Author

Sidney Allnutt is an author about whom very little public information is available; his nationality, dates of birth and death, and main career remain unconfirmed, and only one of his works is held in the collection. His known representative work is Corot, which, judging from the title, should centre on the French painter Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot and belongs to the genre of writing on an artist's life and works. Owing to the lack of further background, it is impossible to determine whether the book is a scholarly study for specialists or an accessible introduction for general readers, nor is it easy to assess its place and influence within art-historical writing. Overall, Allnutt's name survives chiefly through this Corot-themed work, while his writing style, use of sources, and argumentative approach await further investigation. For researchers, he may be regarded as an unresolved entry in topical writing on art, and additional publication and edition details would help to sketch his profile more clearly.