Camille Pissarro

Alexandre Bernheim-Jeune (sale: Collection Alexandre Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, 15-16th May 1917, lot 68)
Acquired at the above sale by the family of the present owner

Ludovic Rodo-Pissarro & Lionello Venturi, Camille Pissarro, son art - son œuvre, Paris, 1939, vol. I, no. 1342, catalogued p. 267; vol. II, no. 1342, illustrated pl. 262

Executed on cream wove paper, attached to a prepared board along all four edges, most probably by the artist. There are artist's pinholes at the top two corners and at the lower right corner. There is a small Y-shaped repaired tear with associated medium rubbing to the upper right corner (visible in the catalogue illustration). Otherwise, apart from a tiny area of paper skinning to the upper left corner, this work is in very good condition. Colours: Overall fairly accurate, although slightly more subtle in the original than 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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Executed circa 1880, Femme vidant une brouette was most likely painted in the picturesque town of Pontoise, where Pissarro lived from 1866 until 1883.  Like many of Pissarro's works from this period, this gouache depicts an everyday scene of two local peasants: a humbly dressed woman empties her wheelbarrow nearby a modest home while another woman bends to help with the chore. Despite thematic similarities to the art of Millet, Pissarro's portrayals of peasants are distinguished by the artist's matter-of-fact and acutely observed treatment of his rural subjects. This abrupt rejection of Millet's sentimentality is exemplified by Pissarro's representation of his figures in an effortless dialogue with the pastoral landscape, suggesting his fixation on the relationship between humans and nature as opposed to Millet's focus on what he saw as the quiet nobility of the rural laborer. 

Richard Bretell affirms the acute distinction between the art of Millet and Pissarro, stating 'While it is clear that when Pissarro thought about peasantry that he was to depict he had Millet very much in mind, and that he rarely painted subjects or poses unexplored by earlier painters of peasant life, his images are nonetheless different... By denying volume and monumentality to his figures, Pissarro also surrendered the peasant's individuality, and in this way Millet's tendency to isolate and aggrandize the peasant is reversed' (Richard Brettell, 'Camille Pissarro: A Revision', in Pissarro (exhibition catalogue), Hayward Gallery, London; Grand Palais, Paris & Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1981, pp. 27-28).