Young Woman

Young Woman is a cliché-verre print—a hybrid medium combining drawing and photography—created by French artist Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot in 1854 ^[3]. The work is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. ^[3]. Unlike Corot's celebrated oil paintings of female figures, this print demonstrates his engagement with experimental reproductive techniques in the mid-19th century ^[1][3].

Artist: Corot's place in 19th-century painting

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (1796–1875) was a French landscape and portrait painter as well as a printmaker in etching ^[1]. Born in Paris on 16 July 1796 to a bourgeois family—his father a wig maker turned businessman, his mother a milliner—Corot never lacked financial support, allowing him to pursue art independently ^[1]. A pivotal figure in landscape painting, his vast output simultaneously referenced the Neo-Classical tradition and anticipated the plein-air innovations of Impressionism ^[1]. While best known for his landscapes, Corot also produced figure paintings and graphic works throughout his career ^[1].

Medium: cliché-verre as a hybrid print technique

Young Woman was executed in cliché-verre, a process in which a drawing is made on a glass plate coated with an opaque ground, then printed onto light-sensitive paper ^[3]. The technique allowed artists to combine the spontaneity of drawing with the reproducibility of photography. Corot was among the first major painters to explore this medium, producing works such as Young Woman and Death (La Jeune Fille et la Mort) in the same year, 1854 ^[3]. The National Gallery of Art identifies the work's date as 1854 and its medium as cliché-verre ^[3].

Collection: National Gallery of Art, Washington

The National Gallery of Art holds Young Woman in its permanent collection ^[3]. The museum's open data records the work under the artist name Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, with the title Young Woman and the date 1854 ^[3]. The print is part of the gallery's broader holdings of Corot's graphic work, which includes his experiments in cliché-verre alongside his better-known paintings ^[3].

Related works: Corot's female figures and graphic output

Corot's 1854 cliché-verre Young Woman and Death is a closely related work in the same medium and year ^[3]. While Corot is primarily celebrated as a landscape painter, his figure studies and portraits—both painted and printed—form a significant part of his oeuvre ^[1]. His engagement with printmaking, including etching and cliché-verre, reflects the breadth of his technical experimentation ^[1][3].

Frequently asked questions

What medium was used for Corot's Young Woman?

The work is a cliché-verre print, a technique combining drawing on glass with photographic printing ^[3].

When was Young Woman created?

The National Gallery of Art dates the work to 1854 ^[3].

Where is Young Woman located?

The print is in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. ^[3].