Camille Pissarro

Paul Rousseau, Gisors (gift from the artist in 1902)

Césarine Bellavoine, Paris

Galeries Georges Petit, Paris

Acquired from the above by Christian Otto Zieseniss on December 1, 1929

Ludovic-Rodo Pissarro & Lionello Venturi, Camille Pissarro, son art - son oeuvre, Paris, 1939, vol. I, no. 1264

Joachim Pissarro & Claire Durand-Ruel Snollaerts, Pissarro, Catalogue critique des peintures, vol. III, Paris, 2005,  no. 1465, illustrated p. 891

Original canvas. Slight undulating in upper right corner. Surface retains a rich and textured impasto. Under ultra-violet light, a few scattered spots of inpainting are visible at upper right. Otherwise fine, work is in very good condition.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The environs of Pissarro's home in Éragny were frequently depicted in his landscapes, and the present work features the red-brick house of his next-door-neighbor as seen from the artist's garden.  The wall in the middle-distance encloses the Pissarro family's garden, with a regal old walnut tree at the left in the foreground.  At the time it was painted in 1902, the inhabitant was an unnamed Englishman, whereas the resident was described as a "deaf woman" when Pissarro painted this same site in the mid-1880s.  Pissarro's repetitive focus on this subject was not suprising, given its picturesque presentation.  But the site also presented him with several compositional complexities, as it offered the challenge of intergrating the rigid geometry of the architecture with the organic forms of the natural landscape.  In this regard, the composition calls to mind the landscapes of Cézanne, who frequently painted alongside Pissarro during the 1880s.