Camille Pissarro

Sale: Hôtel Drouot, Paris, May 6, 1932, lot 113
Galerie René Keller, Paris
Galerie de l'Élysée, Paris
Galerie Nathan, Zurich (acquired circa 1960)
Private Collection, Germany (and sold: Christie's, New York, November 15, 1989, lot 357)
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

Ludovic-Rodo Pissarro & Lionello Venturi, Camille Pissarro: Son art, son oeuvre, vol. I, Paris, 1939, nos. 338 & 427; illustrated vol. II, pls. 67 & 86
Joachim Pissarro & Claire Durand-Ruel Snollaerts, Pissarro, Catalogue critique des peintures, vol. II, Milan, 2005, nos. 433 & 500, illustrated pp. 316 & 353

Overall, this work is in very good condition. This work is double sided. The canvas has been strip lined so as to be stretched and viewed on both sides. The surface is nicely textured on each side and the canvas is slightly buckled. There is minor craquelure visible throughout the lighter pigments in the sky and the extreme foreground on the recto. Under UV light: certain original pigments fluoresce darkly, but no in-painting is apparent.
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.

Camille Pissarro is an essential figure in French art history, and his contributions to the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist movements were widely celebrated during his lifetime. John Rewald characterized Pissarro as the "Dean of the Impressionist painters;" indeed, it was not only the elder artist’s paintings but also his kind-hearted encouragement that inspired a legion of younger artists, among them Paul Cézanne.

In 1866 Pissarro moved to Pontoise, in the northwestern suburbs of Paris. There he began the intensive exploration of the French countryside which would become the mainstay of his artistic output. Following a brief relocation to London during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870-71, the artist returned once more to the countryside with his young family, thereafter producing some of the most celebrated works of his entire oeuvre. Over the following decade Pissarro would capture the many intricacies and intimacies of rural life as the landscape and its people adapted to the changing seasons.  

Pissarro’s paintings in and around Pontoise are also noted for their light brushwork and clean palette, marking the period during which the artist was at the apogee of his Impressionist style. It has been written: "The artist retains a firmly controlled geometric structure as the framework for his compositions, but he employs a lighter touch in his brushwork and a brighter palette, both of which show the influence of Monet, whose technique of freely applying broken, separate patches of pure pigment Pissarro approached closely at this time. The paintings dating from the opening years of the 1870s may, like those of Monet and Renoir, with good reason be described as the most purely Impressionist in Pissarro’s entire oeuvre" (Pissarro (exhibition catalogue), Hayward Gallery, London, 1980, p. 79).

Winter scenes were commonly painted by the Impressionists, the reflective quality of snow lending itself to their exploration of the splendorous effects of light and its colored shadows. Paysage d’hiver depicts two local villagers collecting wood  strewn across the dappled white land; a rolling valley and bare branches are illuminated by touches of pale color. Cézanne joined Pissarro in Pontoise in 1873 and together they painted their surroundings side by side. While the village lanes and houses were shared subjects, a notable difference was Pissarro’s preference for the depiction of local villagers and workers in his paintings, frequently using their presence to animate his landscapes.

Pissarro produced nearly one hundred known paintings depicting snow, of which Paysage d’hiver is a very strong example. The harmonious colors and soft brushwork beautifully evoke a quiet morning as the thin light of winter enlivens a barren field. In the year following the completion of this composition, Pissarro painted his hens and ducks on the reverse of the canvas. He found infinite pleasure in his simple way of life outside of Paris with his wife and children, growing vegetables while raising birds and rabbits. The present work, comprising both recto and verso, is thus a magnificent ode to the artist’s home and home life in and around Pontoise.