Corot's early painting showed Realist leanings, but as his career progressed he began to combine more Romantic elements, and his works are often viewed as a bridge between Realism and the evolving Impressionist movement.

The indistinct features are reminiscent of the blurry details of early landscape photography; Corot had a large collection of these photographs and may have been attempting to recreate the effect in paint.

In Souvenir de Mortefontaine Corot was not producing a scene from life, but (as the title suggests) his recollections of his visits and the play of light on the ponds in the village.

Changes in the features of the landscape in The Boatman from those depicted in Souvenir hint at the paintings being generalised impressions rather than details captured from life.

Souvenir de Mortefontaine was purchased in 1864 for the French state directly from Corot through Napoleon III's Civil List, and after hanging at Fontainebleau for 25 years it was transferred to the Louvre in 1889.