Lot 168
  • 168

Camille Pissarro

Estimate
250,000 - 350,000 USD
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Description

  • Camille Pissarro
  • Vue de Bazincourt, brouillard
  • Initialed C.P. (lower right); stamped C.P. (on the stretcher)
  • Oil on canvas
  • 13 by 16 1/4 in.
  • 33 by 41.3 cm

Provenance

Estate of the artist
Georges Manzana-Pissarro (the artist's son; by descent from the above in 1904)
G. Urion, Paris (and sold: Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, May 30-31, 1927, lot 79)
Gaston Dreyfus (acquired at the above sale)
Private Collection, France (and sold: Sotheby's, London, February 4, 2004, lot 218)
Private Collection, Germany (acquired at the above sale and sold: Sotheby's, London, June 23, 2010, lot 171)
Acquired at the above sale

Exhibited

Joachim Pissarro & Claire Durand-Ruel Snollaerts, Pissarro:  Catalogue critique des peintures, vol. III, Paris, 2005, no. 1024, illustrated in color p. 659

Condition

The work is in very good condition. The canvas has not been lined. The colors are bright and fresh. Two very thin and faint lines of craquelure run vertically through the composition corresponding with the stretcher bar below. A couple additional lines of craquelure are visible toward the upper right quadrant, as well as a couple pindot spots of pigment loss. Under UV light: no inpainting 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.

Catalogue Note

Vue de Bazincourt, brouillard was painted after Pissarro abandoned his Neo-Impressionist phase and joyously returned to working en plein air rather than secluded in his studio. He exclaimed to Monet, “It seemed so good to me to work outside, it had been two years since I last dared to attempt the adventure” (quoted in Joachim Pissarro, Camille Pissarro, New York, 1993, p. 224).

During the last twenty years of his life, Pissarro focused his attention on the pastures of small French villages outside of Normandy, particularly Eragny-sur-Epte and Bazincourt.  These landscape paintings have a distinct compositional organization as well as a heightened vantage point, such as in Vue de Bazincourt, brouillard. The contrast between the thick impasto paint used for the ground and the fragmented, smoother brushstrokes used for the treetops and sky mimic the weightlessness of the fog against the heaviness of the earth, revealing the master's thoughtful and confident control of his medium.

According to Joachim Pissarro and Claire Durand-Ruel Snollaerts, the initials on both the front of the work and the stretcher may have been added by another hand.