Lucien Pissarro

The Brook Collection (acquired in 1949)
Arthur Tooth & Son, London
Commander G. L. Louise (acquired in 1967)
Richmond Gallery, London
Acquired from the above by the family of the present owner in 1981

Paris, Salon des Indépendants, 1890, no. 623, illustrated in the catalogue
London, O'Hana Gallery, 1955, no. 2, illustrated in the catalogue
Laren, Holland, Singer Museum, F. Hart Nibbrig, 1966
Canterbury, City Museum, Lucien Pissarro, His Influence on English Art 1890-1914, 1966
Bletchingley, Cider House Galleries, 1980, n.n.
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum Vincent can Gogh, Neo-Impressionisten, Seurat tot Struycken, 1988, no. 12, illustrated in color in the catalogue
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh, long term loan from 1991-1997
Cologne, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Lausanne, Fondation de l'Hermitage, Le Pointillisme, 1998, no. 109, illustrated in the catalogue
Pontoise, Musée de Pontoise, Lucien Pissarro et le Post-Impressionnisme Anglais, 1998-99, no. 4, illustrated in the catalogue
Lagny, Musée Municipal Gatien-Bonnet, Autour des Néo-Impressionnistes- Le Groupe de Lagny-sur Marne, 1999-2000, p. 77, illustrated in color in the catalogue
Geneva, Musée du Petit Palais, Néo-Impressionnistes - La Lumière Transfigurée, 2000, p. 77, illustrated in the catalogue

Anne Thorold, A Catalogue of the Oil Paintings of Lucien Pissarro, 1983, no. 25, illustrated p. 51
"Christmas Exhibition of Cider House Galleries," Apollo, November, 1980, illustrated p. 124

Canvas is not lined. Surface retains a rich texture. Under UV light there are a few scattered strokes of inpainting in the sky, particularly near upper left corner and at the center, with a few scatter spots at upper right. A few other pigments fluoresce but appear to be original. Work is in very good condition.
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.
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The present work represents a rare example of Lucien's earliest work, painted at the time when his roots in mainstream French Impressionism are clearly visible. Evident here is a pointilliste-inspired technique, with the paint applied in cross-hatched dashes, allied to a knowledge of the principles of color division, with red and green placed alongside each other to visually vibrate: these elements link the present work to that of the artist's father Camille Pissarro, Seurat and Signac.

Prairie de Thierceville depicts the landscape surrounding Camille's house outside of Paris on the Epte river - a subject beloved by both father and son. The subtle grandeur of this painting reveals both the influence of his forebears and the individuality that would come to distinguish his later oeuvre. Two years after he painted this work, Lucien would relocate to London and marry an Englishwoman, Esther Besusan. Lucien's presence in England was vital not only to the development of British artists such as the Camden Town group, but to his own career as an independent artist. From 1890 onwards he melds both the French and English strands in his work to form a unique pictorial idiom of his own.  Prairie de Thierceville is a masterpiece of his early oeuvre and reveals the promise this artist would hold for the inheritance of Impressionism.

Fig. 1 Lucien Pissarro and his cousins Frédéric Pissarro and Alfred Isaacson, circa 1886, Wildenstein Institutes Archives, Paris