CAMILLE PISSARRO | Chasseur en hiver, paysage à Norwood

Private Collection, United Kingdom (acquired circa 1920s)
Private Collection, United Kingdom (by descent from the above)
Thomas Gibson Fine Art, London
Private Collection, London (acquired circa 1960)
Acquavella Galleries, Inc., New York
Acquired from the above in 2012

Joachim Pissarro & Claire Durand-Ruel Snollaerts, Pissarro: Catalogue critique des peintures, Paris, 2005, vol. II, n.n., illustrated p. 162

The work is in excellent condition. Executed on paper laid down on card. There are a few pindots in the upper corners, likely inherent to the artist's process. There is an extremely light mat stain around the perimeter of the sheet. There is a minor abrasion along the extreme right edge of the sheet.
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.

Chasseur en hiver, paysage à Norwood is a rare example of Camille Pissarro’s London-based pictures. Pissarro relocated his family from France to England in December 1870 in effort to escape the turmoil of the Franco-Prussian War. They sailed to England and settled in a small house in the suburb of Upper Norwood, south of London. Departing France on December 2nd, Pissarro must have executed Chasseur en hiver, paysage à South Norwood within weeks of his arrival across the Channel.

The present work is likely a preparation for the larger canvas Paysage sous la neige à South Norwood, which depicts the same snowy field near Pissarro’s new home (see fig. 1). Joachim Pissarro and Claire Durand-Ruel Snollaerts discuss the present work, stating: “The area of Norwood, which still had a distinctly rural flavour when Pissarro made his painting of it, was soon to undergo a huge change. Within the space of six years, two streets, Auckland Road and Mowbray Road, would be built through the fields depicted here” (op. cit., p. 162).

Pissarro would return to France in June 1871 with fourteen canvases depicting Sydenham, Dulwich and Lower and Upper Norwood. The trip proved so successful that the artist would return to England, visiting three times throughout the 1890s.

This work will be included in the forthcoming Pissarro Digital Catalogue Raisonné, currently being prepared under the sponsorship of the Wildenstein Plattner Institute, Inc.