Camille Pissarro

Lucien Pissarro, London (the artist's son)
John Rewald, New York
Wildenstein & Co., New York (acquired from the above in 1953)
Acquired from the above on September 18, 1953

New York, Wildenstein & Co., Seurat and His Friends, 1953, no. 88, illustrated in the catalogue

Joachim Pissarro & Claire Durand-Ruel Snollaerts, Pissarro, Catalogue critique des peintures, vol. III, Paris, 2005, no. 834, illustrated in color p. 548

Panel is sound. A few minor nicks and uneveness along edges appear original. Under UV light: a few original pigments fluoresce, but no inpainting is apparent. Work is in excellent 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.
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.

Located about sixty miles from Paris near Normandy, Eragny-sur-Epte is a small village where Pissarro and his family settled in 1884 and where he mostly remained until the end of his life. According to Joachim Pissarro, this pristine rural landscape was in sharp contrast to the artist's former residence in the more suburban town of Pontoise. In this new and inspiring environment Pissarro began to develop the Divisionist techniques that would fully emerge in his Neo-Impressionist paintings of the late 1880s. "In Eragny, no signs of industry could be observed for miles," the author writes. "Varied expanses of pasture and cultivated land complete the visual field. However, Eragny's earthly space is not banal. For twenty years Pissarro concentrated on this very confined area, on the visual material offered by the stretch of meadows lying in front of him, informed by poplars, gates, the river, and produced over two hundred paintings of these motifs" (Joachim Pissarro, Camille Pissarro, New York, 1992, p. 225).

In the years following the Neo-Impressionist exhibition of 1885 at the Salon des Indépendants, Pissarro, whose style had continued to evolve and was “in a process of transformation," began to experiment with Pointillist technique (ibid.,p. 212). In Bords de l’Epte à Éragny, he boldly employs the technique to enhance the depth of perspective of the scene. His varying shades of green darken as they recede into the background, and his application of paint intensifies as he gives shape to the trees in the distance. 

Ludovic-Rodo Pissarro knew of this painting, and it is mentioned in the documents for the supplement to the catalogue raisonné of his father’s works.

 

Fig. 1 Georges Seurat, Paysage, l'Ile de la Grande-Jatte, oil on canvas, 1884, sold: Sotheby's, New York, May 10, 1999, lot 15 for $35,202,500