Camille Pissarro

Paul Durand-Ruel, Paris (acquired before 1891 until at least 1962)

Galerie Nathan, Zurich (acquired circa 1964)

Private Collection (acquired in 1964)

Acquavella Galleries, New York

Acquired from the above in 1965

Paris, Galerie Durand-Ruel, Exposition de Tableaux de Monet, Pissarro, Renoir & Sisley, 1899, no. 44 (titled Le Quai, à Pontoise)

Paris, Galerie Durand-Ruel. Tableaux, Pastels et Gouaches par Camille Pissarro, 1921, no. 11

New York, The Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester, French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Paintings, 1931, no. 16 (titled Towing Team)

New York, The Union League Club, Exhibition of Paintings by the Master Impressionists, 1932, no. 14 (titled Chevaux de halage)

New York, Durand-Ruel Galleries, Paintings by the Master Impressionists, 1934, no. 18

Toronto, Mallows Fine Arts, 1935

New York, Durand-Ruel Galleries, “Vues de la Seine” by Monet, Pissarro, Renoir, Sisley, 1937, no. 14

Springfield, Massachusetts, Museum of Fine Arts, Master Impressionists, 1937, no. 9 (titled Chevaux d'halage)

San Francisco Museum of Art, Impressionism: Paintings by Monet, Pissarro, Renoir, Seurat, Sisley, 1938, no. 17 (titled Two Horses)

New York, Durand-Ruel Galleries, Monet, Pissarro, Sisley before 1890, 1938, no. 10 (titled Chevaux de halage)

New York, Durand-Ruel Galleries, The Art of Camille Pissarro in Retrospect, 1941, no. 24 (titled Chemin de halage, Pontoise)

Paris, Galerie Durand-Ruel, Pissarro (1830-1903), 1956, no. 49 (titled Chemin de halage, Pontoise)

Bern, Kunstmuseum, Camille Pissarro, 1957, no. 64 (titled Chemin de halage, Pontoise)

Paris, Galerie Durand-Ruel, C. Pissarro (1830-1903), 1962, no. 20 (titled Chemin de halage, Pontoise)

New York, Acquavella Galleries, Four Masters of Impressionism, 1968, no. 33, illustrated in color in the catalogue (titled Chemin de halage, Pontoise)

Lionello Venturi & Paul Durand-Ruel, Les Archives de l’impressionnisme: Lettres de Renoir, Monet, Pissarro, Sisley et autres; Mémoires de Paul Durand-Ruel, Paris, 1939, no. 569

John Rewald, The History of Impressionism (exhibition catalogue), The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1946, illustrated in color p. 2

Gotthard Jedlicka, Pissarro, Bern, 1950, illustrated pl. 22

Thadée Nahanson, Pissarro, Lausanne, 1950, illustrated pl. 22

Connoisseur, vol. 158, no. 638, London, April 1965, illustrated in color n.p.

John Rewald, L’oeil, “Jours sombres de l’Impressionnisme: Paul Durand-Ruel et l’exposition des impressionnistes à Londres en 1905,” Paris, February 1974, illustrated p. 59

Joachim Pissarro & Claire Durand-Ruel Snollaerts, Pissarro, Catalogue critique des peintures, vol. II, Paris, 2005, no. 694, illustrated in color p. 462

The present work depicts a view of Saint-Ouen-l'Aumone, a commune along the Oise river opposite Pontoise, where Pissarro lived from 1866 until 1883.  In deciding to move to Pontoise, the artist was partly guided by a desire to separate himself from the influence of his predecessors, the established French landscape painters, and to depict an environment scarcely recorded by other masters.  Located some twenty-five miles northwest of Paris, Pontoise was built on a hilltop, with the river Oise passing through it, elements which made it a highly picturesque environment in which to paint en plein-air.  The town's economy included agriculture as well as industry, and offered Pissarro a wide range of subjects, from crowded semi-urban genre scenes, views of roads and factories, to farmers working on the fields and isolated landscapes devoid of human presence. 

A quintessential example of Impressionist landscape painting, this picture was a part of the private collection of Paul Durand-Ruel, the leading dealer of the Impressionist painters.  Through his outposts in both Paris and New York, Durand-Ruel was crucial in popularizing Impressionist landscape painting and introducing the innovative techniques of the original Impressionist group to collectors further afield.  As the Impressionists primary dealer, Durand-Ruel and his family had first pick of the Impressionist artists' production, and the present work remained in the family collection for over 70 years before it was acquired by the Bobsts in 1965.