Camille Pissarro

'Pissarro's treatment of urban scenes is by no means limited to Paris. There are a number of views of Rouen dating from the 1890s, mainly of the two bridges across the Seine and of the quais, whilst several of the prints are devoted to the mediaeval streets of the city. Like Pontoise, Rouen, which Pissarro examined closely for the first time in 1883, held a special fascination for the painter because of its hybrid character, but it may have appeared even more attractive in that, unlike Pontoise, the inland port of Rouen was properly industrialized. Indeed it is the workings of the port, as opposed to the streets, that Pissarro tended to concentrate upon in his paintings during the 1890s' (see: Christopher Lloyd & Anne Distel, Pissarro, Hayward Gallery, London, 1980-81, p.134 and 135).