卡米耶·畢沙羅

Durand-Ruel Family, Paris (acquired from the artist on August 10, 1885)
Catholina Lambert, Patterson, New Jersey (acquired from the above on April 5, 1888)
Durand-Ruel, New York (acquired from the above on April 14, 1899 until at least 1936)
Sam Salz, Inc., New York
Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon (acquired from the above in November 1959)

Paris, Galerie Durand-Ruel, 1904
New York, Galerie Durand-Ruel, Paintings - Camille Pissarro, 1936, cat. no. 9
Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, Camille Pissarro: The Unexplored Impressionist, 1981
Albany, Institute of History of Art, Paintings by the French Master Impressionists, cat. no. 21

Cortissoz, New York Herald Tribune, March 8, 1936, p. 10
The Art News, New York, March 14, 1936, p. 8
Ludovic Rodo Pissarro & Lionel Venturi, Pissarro, Son art - Son oeuvre, catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre, Paris, 1939, vol I, cat. no. 650, p. 173; vol II, cat. no. 650, pl. 134, illustrated
Joachim Pissarro & Claire Durand-Ruel Snollaerts, Picasso, cat. no. 764, p. 506, illustrated in color

Very good condition. The canvas is lined. Along the bottom edge to the right of the signature, there is a a 2-inch line of loss due to the original canvas creasing and separating from the lining. Under UV, no evidence of retouching.
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.
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Portrayals of local peasant life capture the rural charm of Eragny, the small hamlet where Pissarro lived from 1884 until his death in 1903.    Located some sixteen miles northwest of Paris, Eragny is situated along the Epte river, and its rural elementsmade it a highly picturesque environment in which to paint en plein-air.   Eragny was smaller than Pontoise, where Pissarro had been living and working for two decades, and relatively less inhabited, Erangy offered Pissarro many opportunities to depict the rural labor and harvest.  The town's economy included agriculture as well as industry, and offered Pissarro a wide range of subjects, from crowded semi-urban genre scenes, views of roads and factories, to farmers working in the fields and particularly the melding of the urban, suburban and rural worlds. 

Joachim Pissarro has written the following about Pissarro's depictions of rural life: "Pissarro's figures [....] do not purport to convey an exact account of what female and male peasants actually looked like in northern France during the last two decades of the nineteenth century.  While they are not allegories, neither are they sociological documents.  From this difficulty, which is both essential and highly characteristic of Pissarro's figure paintings - i.e., the fact that they are resistant to conveying any message and to being "read" as sociological or anthropological witnesses of the raw facts – the manifold interpretations of Camille Pissarro's work have arisen" (J. Pissarro, op. cit., 1993, p. 157).

Pissarro's dealer Durand-Ruel acquired this work from the artist shortly after its completion and sold it in 1888 to the East Coast textile magnate Catholina Lambert (1923-1834). Lambert built a palatial estate, known as Bella Vista or Lambert Castle, for his vast art collection in Patterson, New Jersey.   Lambert lost much of his fortune during the construction of his castle, and was ultimately compelled to sell his collection at auction to pay off his debts.