Camille Pissarro

Jean-Baptiste Faure, Paris (acquired from the artist in 1875)

Louis Maurice Faure (acquired by descent from the above in 1914)

Durand-Ruel, New York and Georges Petit, Paris (acquired jointly from the above in 1919)

Dr. Henri Hinrichsen, Leipzig (by circa 1920 and forcefully relinquished on January 11, 1940 to Dr. Hildebrand Gurlitt, Hamburg)

Jean-Pierre Durand, Geneva

Knoedler, New York (acquired partially from the above in 1950)

T.J. Coolidge (acquired from the above)

Mrs J. Hampden Robb, Beverly Farms

Knoedler, New York (acquired partially from the above in 1960)

Durand-Matthiesen, New York & Geneva (acquired from the above in 1961)

Mme Vröhner, Zürich

Walter Feilchenfeldt, Zürich (acquired from the above in 1961)

Dr. Georg Schäfer, Schweinfurt (acquired from the above in 1961)

Walter Feilchenfeldt, Zürich (acquired from the above in 1981)

Irwin Levy, Dallas (acquired from the above in 1987 and sold: Sotheby's, New York, November 13, 1997, lot 122)

Private Collection (acquired at the above sale)

(possibly) Paris, Galerie Durand-Ruel, Camille Pissarro, 1904, no. 33

London, Matthiesen Gallery, A Camille Pissarro Exhibition, 1950, no. 10

London, The Lefevre Gallery, Important XIXth and XXth Century Works of Art, 1981, no. 19

Dallas Museum of Art, Impressionist and Modern Masters in Dallas: Monet to Mondrian, 1989, no. 78, illustrated in color in the catalogue (titled The Sower - Montfoucault)

Janine Bailly-Herzberg, Correspondance de Camille Pissarro, vol. III, Paris, 1980-1991, no. 992, p. 437

Ludovic-Rodo Pissarro & Lionello Venturi, Camille Pissarro. Son Art – Son oeuvre, vol. I, Paris, 1939, no. 331, catalogued p. 127; vol. II, no. 331, illustrated pl. 66

Richard R. Brettell, Pissarro and Pontoise, the Painter in a Landscape, London, 1990, fig. 148, illustrated in color p. 170

Joachim Pissarro & Claire Durand-Ruel Snollaerts, Pissarro, Catalogue critique des peintures, vol. II, Paris, 2005, no. 425, illustrated in color p. 311

This work is in good condition. The canvas is lined. Under ultra-violet light, there are a few minor spots of inpainting in the sky, and some uneven varnish fluoresces slightly.
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 devoted much thought to his depiction of Semeur et laboureur, Montfoucault, sketching out the composition twenty years later in a letter to his son Lucien on March 4, 1895.  When he embarked upon the subject in 1875, he created a preliminary oil study for this work that depicts the scene in a vertical format.  For the present work, the definitive, final oil, the artist chose a horizontal orientation to better represent the expanse of farmland.   Pissarro also completed a related ink and crayon study, now in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, as well as a lithograph of the same subject.

Pissarro was a vocal supporter who sympathized with the working people of the French countryside.  The symbolism of the rugged farmer single-handedly disseminating seed in a field had great socio-political resonance and calls to mind the paintings of his artistic predecessor, the venerable landscape painter Jean-François Millet. 

The painting is being sold in cooperation with the heirs of Henri Hinrichsen.

Please note that this work has been requested for the forthcoming exhibition Pissarro's People to be held at the De Young Museum in San Francisco and the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute in Williamstown during the spring and summer of 2011.