Camille Pissarro

Pierre Firmin Martin ("Père Martin"), Paris

Durand-Ruel, Paris (acquired from the artist through Pierre Martin in 1872 and until 1957)

Wildenstein & Co., New York (acquired from the above circa 1963)

Mr. & Mrs. William S. Lasdon, New York (acquired from the above in 1964 and sold: Christie's, London, 4th February 2002, lot 9)

Acquired at the above sale

Paris, Durand-Ruel, Tableaux, pastels et gouaches par Camille Pissarro, 1921, no. 16

Paris, Durand-Ruel, Exposition Camille Pissarro, 1956, no. 12

Bern, Kunstmuseum, Camille Pissarro, 1957, no. 21, illustrated in the catalogue

New York, Wildenstein & Co., Camille Pissarro, 1965, no. 11

Philadelphia, Philadelphia Museum of Art, on temporary loan 1994-99

Jerusalem, The Israel Museum & New York, The Jewish Museum, Camille Pissarro: Impressionist Innovator, 1994-1995, no. 43, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art, Impressionism to the Present; Camille Pissarro and his Descendants, 2000, no. 17, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Ludovic-Rodolphe Pissarro & Lionello Venturi, Camille Pissarro, Son art - son oeuvre, Paris, 1939, vol. I, no. 164, p. 102, vol. II, pl. 33, no. 164

Charles Kunstler, Pissarro, villes et campagnes, Lausanne, 1967, no. 8, illustrated p. 19

Charles Kunstler, Camille Pissarro, Milan, 1974, no. 4, illustrated p. 21

Ludovic-Rodolphe Pissarro & Lionello Venturi, Camille Pissarro; Son art - son oeuvre, San Francisco, 1989, vol. I, no. 164, p. 102, vol. II, pl. 33, no. 164

Richard R. Brettell, Pissarro and Pontoise, The Painted in a Landscape, London, 1990, p. 158

Joachim Pissarro, Camille Pissarro, New York, 1993, no. 113, illustrated p. 118

Joachim Pissarro & Claire Durand-Ruel Snollaerts, Pissarro, Critical Catalogue of Paintings, Milan, 2005, vol. II, no. 261, illustrated p. 210

This work is in very good condition. Canvas is lined. Under UV light there is minor inpainting along the top edge and the upper part of the right edge to address frame abrasion.
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.

Pissarro's Pontoise landscapes from the early 1870s represent a milestone in the Impressionist movement that would have a lasting effect on both his contemporaries and subsequent generations. In the present work from 1872, Pissarro depicts a pastoral scene in L'Hermitage, a township in the Pontoise region. Joachim Pissarro and Claire Durand-Ruel Snollaerts, authors of the artist's recent catalogue raisonné, identify the house at the center of this composition as that which is situated on the rue de la Côte-du-Jalet (now the rue Victor-Hugo). Visible in the foreground is the ravine de Saint-Antoine and in the distance is the Côte Saint-Denis (J. Pissarro & C. Durand-Ruel Snollaerts, op. cit., p. 211).

The significance of these early paintings by Pissarro is inextricably linked with a dialogue between the artist and Cézanne during the early 1870s. The two artists would often paint side by side in Pontoise and Auvers-sur-Oise during these years, drawing inspiration from the other. The exchange between these artists revealed the formal revolution inherent in the Impressionist movement and the influence this would have upon future generations. Joachim Pissarro writes of their mutual aim, "... both artists wished to reach the same goal: harmony. What kind of harmony, then? 'Art is harmony parallel to nature' is perhaps Cézanne's most famous statement. Only three weeks before the great Vollard retrospective of Cézanne's works, in 1895, and only a couple of years before this statement, Pissarro summed up what the Impressionist trajectory had been about: 'Here is the true Impressionist way: nothing garish, but colors in harmony and value.' And Pissarro concluded that this is highly noticeable, because it's very rare." (J. Pissarro, Cézanne & Pissarro: Pioneering Modernism (exhibition catalogue), The Museum of Modern Art, 2005, pp. 45-46).