26 January 2024
Recent research has revealed that two small landscapes by the French artist Camille Corot (1796-1875), now in The Mesdag Collection, were once inextricably connected.
The recent discovery was made while a conservation assistant was making preparations to reframe the paintings. The works have been on display next to each other at The Mesdag Collection in The Hague since 12 January.
Corot painted Landscape with a Horseman (left on the digital reconstruction) and Landscape with an Angler (right on the digital reconstruction) towards the end of his life.
When a conservation assistant held the unframed paintings next to each other, he noticed that the scenes connected perfectly. More detailed research into the painted surface and an examination of X-rays conducted by a paintings restorer at the Van Gogh Museum established definitively that Landscape with a Horseman and Landscape with an Angler were originally a single painting.
In the Mesdag’s collection
The works were probably separated between 1875 and 1878, and subsequently mounted on panels. The two paintings led their own lives, and entered the Mesdag’s collection at different times, in 1878 and in 1889. Unfortunately it is unknown whether the Mesdags were aware that the two works were once joined, but the paintings do have similar frames, and were often exhibited as a pair.
Following this discovery, the paintings have been restored. Superficial dirt and the heavily yellowed varnishes have been removed, and minor damage to the paint layers has been retouched, helping to bring out the original colours and the compositions.
A digital reconstruction reveals the picture’s original appearance before the works were separated. There are no plans to reunite the two paintings, this would entail risking the works’ current condition.