The Storm (painting)
| The Storm | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Pierre Auguste Cot |
| Year | 1837–1883 |
| Type | Oil on canvas |
| Location | Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
The Storm is a painting by French artist Pierre Auguste Cot, completed in 1883. Currently on display at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, the painting was commissioned from the artist in 1880 by Catharine Lorillard Wolfe under the guidance of her cousin John Wolfe, one of Cot's principal patrons.
Though long regarded as a symbol of late nineteenth century academicism, The Storm, even today, continues to attract a litany of caustic attacks.
Theme and elements
The painting is reminiscent of an earlier work, Spring, which was completed by Cot in 1873. This painting was subsequently acquired by John Wolfe after it was displayed with astounding success at the Salon of 1873. It is believed that the presence of Spring in Wolfe's collection was the impetus that drove his cousin, Catharine Lorillard Wolfe, to purchase The Storm in 1880. Both paintings are of roughly the same dimensions and are evidently related in subject in the sense that both portray a young, nubile couple. It is from this therefore, that the two paintings are thought to form a symbiotic pair, where the success of the earlier work led to the creation of the latter[1].
When it was first exhibited at the Salon in 1880, there was much speculation amongst Cot's comtemporaries as to the subject the painter meant to allude to - with some drawing reference to the story Paul et Virginie, first published by Bernardin de Saint-Pierre in 1788, and others to the fourth century romance Daphnis and Chloe by the Greek writer Longus[2][3].
References
- ^ The original Spring measured 82×49 inches; David C. Lyall sale (New York, 1903). For the Wolfe family connection see The Collector 5 (1894) p. 103
- ^ French Paintings: A Catalogue of the Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, 1966) II, p. 194
- ^ Catalogue generald es livres imprimisd e la Bibliotheque Nationale