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Lot Essay
Between 1884 and his death in 1903, Pissarro and his family lived at Eragny, a tiny hamlet on the banks of the Epte, about forty-five miles northwest of Paris. The bucolic landscape there proved a source of inexhaustible inspiration to the artist during these two decades. Joachim Pissarro has written: "Unlike Pontoise, whose tensions were those of a suburban town, semi-rural and semi-urban, in Eragny, no signs of industry could be observed for miles. Varied expanses of pasture and cultivated land complete the visual field. However, Eragny's earthly space is not banal. For twenty years Pissarro concentrated on this very confined area, on the visual material offered by the stretch of meadows lying in front of him, informed by poplars, gates, the river, and produced over two hundred paintings of these motifs. His representations of these fields and gardens constitute the most spectacularly intense pictorial effort to 'cover' a particular given space in his career... Pissarro could never get enough of Eragny. His infrequent travels always brought him back to Eragny with renewed resources, fresh ideas, and an eagerness to paint the same and yet ever different locations once again. The years that he spent in Eragny undeniably constitute a significant episode in the history of late Impressionism" (Camille Pissarro, New York, 1993, pp. 225 and 241).
Le pré avec cheval gris was painted in 1893, almost a decade after Pissarro had moved to Eragny; the touches of red and gold in the foliage indicate that it dates to the early fall. The artist spent much of the first half of the year in Paris, attending exhibitions, seeking out new buyers, and consulting with doctors about his recurring eye troubles. The long stay in the capital weighed on him: "There's only one thing that distresses me," he wrote, "and that is being unable to be at home surrounded by my family and working in the fields!" (quoted in J. Pissarro and C. Durand-Ruel Snollaerts, op. cit., vol. I, p. 240). He returned to Eragny in the late spring and remained there throughout almost the whole of the summer and fall, reveling in the wealth of motifs close to his home. He also set to work converting a barn adjacent to his house into a studio, having purchased the property earlier in the year with a loan from Monet. The new studio was finished by late October and offered panoramic views to the north and west, enabling Pissarro to paint the landscape away from the sun's glare, thereby reducing the strain on his eyes.
To paint the present scene, however, Pissarro did not remain indoors but set out into the field, very likely with his rolling easel. The painting depicts the meadow just beyond the artist's property, looking west toward the red-roofed houses of Bazincourt on the opposite bank of the Epte. This meadow was one of Pissarro's favorite places to paint at Eragny, and he depicted it at all different times of day, from the pale light of morning to the richly colored hues of afternoon and sunset. He explored the pictorial possibilities that it offered throughout the seasons: with the fresh blooms of spring, the verdant leaves of summer, the colored foliage of autumn (as here), and the bare boughs of winter, tinged with hoar-frost or burdened by snow. The exact location of the meadow relative to Pissarro's property is evident in a landscape that he painted from his window in 1886, which shows his garden and hennery in the foreground and a corner of the barn (later his studio) at the left edge of the canvas (fig. 1). The meadow lies in the distance, dotted by apple trees and bounded by willows and poplars, which mark out the meandering course of the Epte. In the present painting, rather than depicting the full width of the meadow, as he very often did, Pissarro focused his attention on the portion to the left of the Bazincourt church steeple, working at closer range (cf. Pissarro and Durand-Ruel Snollaerts, nos. 833, 839, 852, 898, 959, and 982; fig. 2).
The joy that Pissarro took in painting this particular stretch of the landscape is clearly evident in the present scene. The sky is a vivid blue scumbled with cottony white clouds, and the foliage is lush and verdant, with just the first hints of autumn color beginning to appear. The meadow itself is a tapestry of overlapping green and ochre strokes, loosely arranged in horizontal bands that guide the eye into the distance. The sapling in the foreground, its branches spread out against the sky like a fan, acts as a stand-in for the artist (and by extension, the viewer), surveying the landscape as it recedes towards Bazincourt. Near the center of the scene, a single grey horse, grazing untethered, underscores the mood of bucolic tranquility.
In December 1893, Durand-Ruel visited Pissarro at Eragny and purchased sixteen recent canvases, including this one. The purchase enabled the painter to make the last payment on the renovation work on the studio. In March 1894, for the third year running, Durand-Ruel gave Pissarro a solo exhibition at his gallery in Paris, in which the present canvas was featured. Although there were few sales, much to Pissarro's disappointment, the show received stellar reviews in the press and yielded the artist many compliments. "I have reason to be fairly pleased with my exhibition--from an artistic standpoint, I mean," he reported to his son Lucien. "Friends are satisfied, and my studio figures have gone down well as a whole. Mallarmé told me that I was younger than ever... [and] Geffroy gave me a very fine review" (quoted in ibid., p. 248). This last statement was no exaggeration. Writing in the periodical Le Matin, Gustave Geffroy proclaimed, "This exhibition... must be considered, in my opinion at least, as the most perfect as well as the most lofty display of the art of this truly original painter, who enlightened art lovers have long hailed as a master of color" (quoted in ibid.).
(fig. 1) Camille Pissarro, Vue de ma fenêtre, Eragny, 1886. Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, Oxford.
(fig. 2) Camille Pissarro, Paysage d'été avec vaches, Eragny, 1887 (re-worked in 1902). Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Le pré avec cheval gris was painted in 1893, almost a decade after Pissarro had moved to Eragny; the touches of red and gold in the foliage indicate that it dates to the early fall. The artist spent much of the first half of the year in Paris, attending exhibitions, seeking out new buyers, and consulting with doctors about his recurring eye troubles. The long stay in the capital weighed on him: "There's only one thing that distresses me," he wrote, "and that is being unable to be at home surrounded by my family and working in the fields!" (quoted in J. Pissarro and C. Durand-Ruel Snollaerts, op. cit., vol. I, p. 240). He returned to Eragny in the late spring and remained there throughout almost the whole of the summer and fall, reveling in the wealth of motifs close to his home. He also set to work converting a barn adjacent to his house into a studio, having purchased the property earlier in the year with a loan from Monet. The new studio was finished by late October and offered panoramic views to the north and west, enabling Pissarro to paint the landscape away from the sun's glare, thereby reducing the strain on his eyes.
To paint the present scene, however, Pissarro did not remain indoors but set out into the field, very likely with his rolling easel. The painting depicts the meadow just beyond the artist's property, looking west toward the red-roofed houses of Bazincourt on the opposite bank of the Epte. This meadow was one of Pissarro's favorite places to paint at Eragny, and he depicted it at all different times of day, from the pale light of morning to the richly colored hues of afternoon and sunset. He explored the pictorial possibilities that it offered throughout the seasons: with the fresh blooms of spring, the verdant leaves of summer, the colored foliage of autumn (as here), and the bare boughs of winter, tinged with hoar-frost or burdened by snow. The exact location of the meadow relative to Pissarro's property is evident in a landscape that he painted from his window in 1886, which shows his garden and hennery in the foreground and a corner of the barn (later his studio) at the left edge of the canvas (fig. 1). The meadow lies in the distance, dotted by apple trees and bounded by willows and poplars, which mark out the meandering course of the Epte. In the present painting, rather than depicting the full width of the meadow, as he very often did, Pissarro focused his attention on the portion to the left of the Bazincourt church steeple, working at closer range (cf. Pissarro and Durand-Ruel Snollaerts, nos. 833, 839, 852, 898, 959, and 982; fig. 2).
The joy that Pissarro took in painting this particular stretch of the landscape is clearly evident in the present scene. The sky is a vivid blue scumbled with cottony white clouds, and the foliage is lush and verdant, with just the first hints of autumn color beginning to appear. The meadow itself is a tapestry of overlapping green and ochre strokes, loosely arranged in horizontal bands that guide the eye into the distance. The sapling in the foreground, its branches spread out against the sky like a fan, acts as a stand-in for the artist (and by extension, the viewer), surveying the landscape as it recedes towards Bazincourt. Near the center of the scene, a single grey horse, grazing untethered, underscores the mood of bucolic tranquility.
In December 1893, Durand-Ruel visited Pissarro at Eragny and purchased sixteen recent canvases, including this one. The purchase enabled the painter to make the last payment on the renovation work on the studio. In March 1894, for the third year running, Durand-Ruel gave Pissarro a solo exhibition at his gallery in Paris, in which the present canvas was featured. Although there were few sales, much to Pissarro's disappointment, the show received stellar reviews in the press and yielded the artist many compliments. "I have reason to be fairly pleased with my exhibition--from an artistic standpoint, I mean," he reported to his son Lucien. "Friends are satisfied, and my studio figures have gone down well as a whole. Mallarmé told me that I was younger than ever... [and] Geffroy gave me a very fine review" (quoted in ibid., p. 248). This last statement was no exaggeration. Writing in the periodical Le Matin, Gustave Geffroy proclaimed, "This exhibition... must be considered, in my opinion at least, as the most perfect as well as the most lofty display of the art of this truly original painter, who enlightened art lovers have long hailed as a master of color" (quoted in ibid.).
(fig. 1) Camille Pissarro, Vue de ma fenêtre, Eragny, 1886. Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, Oxford.
(fig. 2) Camille Pissarro, Paysage d'été avec vaches, Eragny, 1887 (re-worked in 1902). Philadelphia Museum of Art.