Camille Pissarro

Catholina Lambert, Paterson, New Jersey (sold: American Art Association, New York, February 21-24, 1916, lot 43)

Durand-Ruel Gallery, New York (acquired at the above sale)

Alex Reid & Lefevre (The Lefevre Gallery), London (acquired from the above on December 31, 1928)

Etienne Bignou, Paris (circa 1929)

Arthur Tooth & Sons, London

Sir Michael Kroyer-Kielberg, London (acquired from the above on July 16, 1929)

Mrs. F. Kroyer-Kielberg, London (1942-43)

Private Collection (acquired by descent from the above and sold: Christie's, London, June 18, 2007, lot 12)

Acquired at the above sale

London, The National Gallery, Nineteenth Century French Paintings, 1942-43, no. 60 (titled La Grand' Route Louveciennes)

Lionel-Rodo Pissarro & Lionello Venturi, Camille Pissarro: Son art - son oeuvre, vol. 1, Paris, 1939, no. 137, catalogued p. 98; vol. II, illustrated pl. 28

Joachim Pissarro & Claire Durand-Ruel Snollaerts, Pissarro: catalogue critique des peintures, vol. II, Paris, 2005, no. 225, illustrated p. 186

Very good condition. Original canvas. There are scattered areas of thin craquleur throughout, mostly in the sky and clouds. The canvas is buckling slightly in the upper left. Under UV light, no retouching is apparent.
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 paintings from the Louveciennes period mark the foundations of his style as a leading Impressionist landscapist.   With its unobstructed views of farmland and open country roads, Louveciennes was a popular destination for Pissarro and his fellow Impressionists Renoir and Monet, and its convenient location seventeen kilometers outside of Paris made it an easy escape from the distractions of the city.  Pissarro lived in Louveciennes intermittently between 1869 and April 1872, and the present work is one of the last pictures he would paint during his residence.  

La Maison de Monsieur Musy, route de Marly, Louveciennes is a variant of one of Pissarro's favorite subjects from this period, the house of his neighbor Monsieur Musy.  Situated along the road to the Marly-le-Roi towards the west was the tall stone house, flanked by a storage facility where Musy, a pit-sawyer, stored his wooden planks.  Pissarro's rendering of the site here employs the same format that he used in his pictures from the early 1870s: a road receding into the distance cutting a diagonal across the picture space.  Pissarro would vary this by depicting the scene under different atmospheric conditions, and in the present composition he captures the location on a sunny day in late winter or early spring. 

The early 1870s are recognized as crucial in Pissarro's development of the style that would define Impressionist landscape painting. As Richard Bretell writes: "Within one year Pissarro's pictures became smaller in size, more varied in palette and looser in facture. Most important was the fact that they displayed a growing interest in light, color and atmosphere, all of which are closely related to changes of season and time of day" (R. Bretell, 'Camille Pissarro: A Revision,' Pissarro, London, Hayward Gallery and traveling, 1980-81, p. 19).