Camille Pissarro

Bernheim-Jeune (circa 1920)
Eugène Blot, Paris (circa 1930)
Étienne Bignou, Paris
Dr. Brocq, Paris
Georges Bernheim, Paris (sold: Paris, Galerie Jean Charpentier, June 7, 1935, lot 72)
M Marx (acquired at the above sale)
Marlborough Fine Art, London
Israel Sieff (acquired from the above in 1961 and until at least 1963)
Mr. and Mrs. Josef Rosensaft, New York (circa 1968 and sold: Parke Bernet Galleries, New York, March 17, 1976, lot 32)
Cynthia Wood, California (acquired at the above sale)
Wood-Claeyssens Foundation, Santa Barbara
Private Collection (acquired from the above in 1996)

Paris, Musée de l'Orangerie, Centenaire de la naissance de Camille Pissarro, 1930, no. 27
London, Marlborough Fine Art, A Great Period of French Painting: An Exhibition Held in Memory of the Late Miss Clarica Davidson, 1963, no. 25
New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Collects: Paintings, Watercolors and Sculpture from Private Collections, 1968, no. 163
Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara Collects: Impressions of France, 1998, no. 50, illustrated in color in the catalogue
Washington, D.C., The Phillips Collection; San Francisco, The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco at the Center for the Arts at Yerba Buena Gardens & Brooklyn, The Brooklyn Museum of Art, Impressionists in Winter: Effets de Neige, 1998-99, no. 39, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Ludovic-Rodo Pissarro and Lionello Venturi, Camille Pissarro: son art, son oeuvre, vol. I, Paris, 1939, no. 284, catalogued p. 120; vol. II, no. 284, illustrated pl. 57
Joachim Pissarro and Claire Durand-Ruel Snollaerts, Pissarro, Critical Catalogue of Paintings, vol. II, Paris, 2005, no. 384, illustrated in color p. 289

 

The canvas is lined. Apart from some scattered spots and lines of retouching throughout the composition, visible under UV light, this work is in good condition. Colors: Over all, the blue tonality is more muted than it appears in the catalogue illustration.
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.

In 1874, when the present work was painted, Pissarro and his family visited the Piette family in the remote hamlet of Montfoucault, about a two-day journey from Pontoise. Feeling the pressures of the Parisian art world and his financial responsibilities to his family, Pissarro believed that the quiet solitude of the farms and enclosed fields of this cul-de-sac on the border of Brittany and Normandy would provide a much needed respite. Years before, Ludovic Piette, at whose farm the artist and his family would reside, had warned Pissarro of the creative stagnation that could occur if he abandoned Paris for Montfoucault: "Do not think that the pleasure I would have if you stayed with us makes me so oblivious to your interest as to try to influence you to leave the Paris region while it is in your interest to remain there... I even think that you feel the pulse of life in Paris far more than here, where a benumbing and hopeless languor paralyzes you, no matter what you do" (quoted in J. Pissarro, Camille Pissarro, New York, 1993, p. 138). On the contrary, the artist's brief escape to this secluded area would prove to be personally and professionally cathartic.

 

It was, in fact, in Montfoucault that Pissarro began studying local peasant life, and this work is a compelling example of the stylistic development engendered by the artist's encounters in the country. Here, he presents a farm scene with grazing animals amidst the tranquil winter landscape. Pissarro executes this scene as if the land has been untouched by any meddling industrial presence. Quite the opposite of the grands boulevards and the towering buildings of Paris from which the artist had temporarily sought refuge, Montfoucault offered a poignant reminder of the overarching beauty of the natural landscape. In the present work, the predominantly silvery gray tones unify the composition and underscore the affinity of the otherwise disparate features of farm, land, sky and animals.