Provenance
Purchased April 1896 from the artist by (Durand-Ruel, Paris); sold August 1911 to Baron de Herzog.[1] Marczell von Nemes, Budapest, by 1912;[2] (his sale, Galerie Manzi Joyant, Paris, 18 June 1913, no. 84). Sold 17 December 1929 to Chester Dale [1883-1962], New York;[3] bequest 1963 to NGA.
[1] Letter of 26 March 1930 from Durand-Ruel to Mrs. Chester Dale, in NGA curatorial files.
[2] The painting was included in a 1912 exhibition of his collection in Dusseldorf.
[3] The Chester Dale papers in NGA curatorial files provide the date of purchase, and give the source as "Paul Rosenberg". Press coverage (_Art News_ of 28 December 1929, and _Art Digest_ of 1 January 1930) reported that the purchase was from Wildenstein & Co.
Accession Number
1963.10.96
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 79.8 x 63.8 cm (31 7/16 x 25 1/8 in.) | framed: 111.1 x 95.3 cm (43 3/4 x 37 1/2 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Chester Dale Collection
Tags
Painting Impressionist & Modern (1851–1900) Oil Painting Canvas American
Background & Context
Background Story
Morning: Dance of the Nymphs, painted around 1850, is Corot's most celebrated work and a bridge between Neoclassicism and the Barbizon School. It depicts nymphs dancing in a misty forest clearing at dawn, their filmy draperies trailing among the trees, combining mythological subject matter with atmospheric landscape painting.
Corot occupies a unique position in 19th-century French painting: respected by both the academic establishment and the avant-garde. His mythological landscapes earned official honors, while his plein-air studies attracted the admiration of the young Impressionists. Morning: Dance of the Nymphs embodies this dual identity: the nymphs satisfy the Academy's demand for noble subject matter, while the shimmering forest anticipates Monet.
The painting's most influential feature is its treatment of light. The morning mist, the filtered sunlight, the silvery tonality that unifies the entire scene - these effects of atmosphere would become the central preoccupation of the Impressionists. Corot painted them first, and the young painters who gathered at his studio - including Monet, Renoir, and Sisley - acknowledged him as their most important precursor.
Cultural Impact
Corot's atmospheric landscapes created the precedent for Impressionism and established the misty forest as a permanent fixture of the French artistic imagination. His ability to combine poetic atmosphere with solid structure influenced every landscape painter from the Barbizon School to Cezanne.
Why It Matters
This painting captures Corot's unique gift: the ability to make the visible world dreamlike without making it unreal. The dancing nymphs, the misty trees, the morning light - everything is both observed and imagined, creating an image that hovers between the real and the ideal.
