story of Paul et Virginie-first published by Bernardin. /z.
Cot's Pierre-Auguste
The
Storm
HENRY RUBIN JAMES Associate Professor, State University of New Yorkat Stony Brook
PIERRE-AUGUSTE COT'S L'Orageor TheStorm(Fig-
ure 1) has long been regarded, at least by Americans aware of its presence at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, as a symbol of late nineteenth-century French academicism. It is for this reason that the painting itself is far better known than the name of the artist who made it. One of a very few major examples of its genre in a magnificent collection of Realist, Impressionist, and Post-Impressionist works, The Storm even to this day attracts a litany of caustic attacks. These are usually made by hindseers convinced of the injustice of late nineteenth-century resistance to the avant-garde. For others, the history of a painter like Cot can simply be dismissed as irrelevant to any purpose and inherently uninteresting. One recent author, John Canaday, although not entirely wrong in having described Cot's main interest for us as an example of an outworn point of view, has even gone so far as to characterize academic productions, and by association Cot's painting, as no better than "dry rot."' This paper is limited to a brief study of The Storm, its subject matter and sources, its reception at the Salon of 1880, and to a small extent, its place in Cot's career. The occasion for the article arose from the discovery of some drawings and other materials relating to The Storm,which in themselves seemed worthy of publication. I have no intention of trying to reverse the tide of critical opinion that has largely condemned Cot. But a look at Cot for his own sake and on his own terms may reveal some new subtlety in the old-fashioned myth that the late nineteenth century was polarized in a battle between "good art" and "bad art" (see Figure 2).
Pierre-Auguste Cot (pronounced kot) was born February 17, 1837 in Bedarieux, a small city in the ? The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1980
Herault region in the south of France, about thirty kilometers from Beziers. After successful studies at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts of Toulouse, Cot went to Paris, where he worked mainly in the studio of Leon Cogniet. He made a successful debut at the Salon of 1863, and continued to exhibit until his death in 1883. He enjoyed the protection of the academic sculptor Francisque Duret, whose daughter he married, and of William Bouguereau, with whom he had also worked. In the 187os, he became a fashionable portraitist. He won various prizes and medals, was decorated as a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor in 1874, and served on numerous committees and juries. Shortly after his untimely death at the age of forty-six (August 2, 1883), a subscription was undertaken for a commemorative monument to the artist, which was erected at Bedarieux in 1892.2 Cot's widow sold the painter'sMireilleof 1882 to the state for the Musee de Luxembourg. His heirs divided the remains of the estate, about half of which ultimately became a bequest to the city of Bedarieux. Most of these works still remain in storage, where they are now rapidly deteriorating, while others are either in private hands or are lost. Of the very few in museum collections, only The Stormhas received any notice. From 1903 to 1938, however, another large painting by Cot, Le Printempsor Springtime(Figure 3), was exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum, where it was on extended loan. This picture, now lost, was shown
1. J. Canaday, MetropolitanMuseum of Art Seminarsin the Home (New York, 1959) fasc. 11. 2. A biographical article on Cot has recently appeared: Andre Signoles, "Pierre-Auguste Cot, peintre," Etudessur Pezenas et I'Herault 9 (1978) pp. 17-33. See also my "Who Was PierreAuguste Cot?," Nineteenth Century6/1 (1980) pp. 36-39. 191
METROPOLITANMUSEUMJOURNAL 14
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FIGURE
1
Pierre-Auguste Cot (1837-83), L'Orage (The Storm),
signed and dated 188o. Oil on canvas, 921/4x 63/4 in. (235 X 156.9 cm.). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Bequest of Catharine Lorillard Wolfe, 87.15.134
by Cot with astounding success at the Salon of 1873, and had been acquired by John Wolfe, at the sale of whose collection in 1882 it passed into the hands of David C. Lyall. It must have been the presence of Springtimein Wolfe's collection that motivated his cousin, Catharine Lorillard Wolfe, to purchase The Storm in 1880. The pictures are of roughly the same size and are obviously related in subject in the sense that both show a young, nubile couple. Although the two pictures were not conceived together, they were thus spiritual pendants, and it can be assumed that the
FIGURE FIGURE
2
GoodArt? Bad Art? Advertisement from Esquire, December 1970
3
After Cot, Le Printemps(Springtime),1873. Engraving by Amedee and Eugene Varin, 1875. Paris,Bibliotheque Nationale (photo: BibliothequeNationale)
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FIGURES
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Cot, Sketches, ca. 1873-80. Graphite on white paper, approx. 57/8 x 37/ in. (15 x 0 cm.) Paris, pri-
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vate collection (photos: Agraci)
success of the earlier picture led to the creation of the later one.3_ Related to The Stormis a pencil drawing which has been squared off (Figure 4). Comparison with other drawings by Cot confirms its authenticity, but sincehere the design was made over the squaring (note how the ruled lines are erased where there have been pentimentiin the drawing), its use in the creation of the original painting is doubtful. Rather, it probably served as the basis of the etching for an illustrated catalogue of the Salon of 1880, which contained 200 reproductions made from "originalartists'drawings."4 Of greater interest in relation to The Stormis a se-; ries of sketchbook sheets showing similar subjects
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FIGURE
4
Cot, The Storm, 1880. Graphite on white paper, 15% x 113/8 in. (39X29 cm.). Paris, private collection
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(photo: Agraci) FIGURE
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YoungMan Carryinga YoungWoman
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