Carol Vogel’s New York Times column highlights the changing taste within the Old Master and 19th Century painting field. Christie’s department head pitches a turn toward the spiritual to describe the appeal of this Corot:

when the old-master auctions start in New York on Jan. 27, Mr. Hall predicts that one painting that will be getting a lot of attention is Corot’s “Étoile du Berger” (“The Evening Star”), an 1863 canvas of a young woman, her outstretched hand reaching toward the sky, mirroring a branch above her. It is similar in size — more than 3 feet by 4 feet — and subject matter to a series from the same decade hanging at the National Gallery in London. “It’s a very grand scale, and works like this rarely come on the market,” Mr. Hall said.

It’s not simply the subject matter that may interest buyers. “While this painting has been seen by scholars, it has not been included in any of the Corot literature,” Mr. Hall said. The heirs of Charles H. Foster, a St. Louis family, have owned the painting for decades. For years it hung on extended loan at the St. Louis Art Museum, until they consigned it to Christie’s. Experts there predict that the work will bring $1.2 million to $1.8 million.

Inside Art: All Eyes on a Corot (New York Times)