CAMILLE PISSARRO | Le Clocher de Bazincourt (étude)

Estate of the Artist
Jeanne Pissarro-Bonin (the artist's daughter; by descent from the above in 1904)
Alexandre Bonin, Paris (by descent from the above; sale: Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 26th June 1931, lot 6)
Stettiner Collection, Europe
Private Collection (by descent from the above; sale: Christie's, London, 10th December 1997, lot 124)
Purchased at the above sale by the present owner

Ludovic Rodo-Pissarro & Lionello Pissarro, Camille Pissarro, son art - son œuvre, Paris, 1939, vol. I, no. 928, p. 209; vol. II, no. 928, illustrated pl. 188
Joachim Pissarro & Claire Durand-Ruel Snollaerts, Pissarro, Catalogue critique des peintures, Paris, 2005, vol. III, no. 1087, illustrated in colour p. 689

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"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
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Dating from 1895, the present work depicts the steeple of the church at Bazincourt, the hamlet neighbouring the village Éragny, where Camille Pissarro resided from 1884. Bathed in warm evening light, this is a subject Pissarro chose to paint numerous times during the last two decades of his life. The artist was delighted with the tranquility of this Normandy environment and relished the endless sources of painterly inspiration it offered. In a letter to his son Lucien, dated 1st March 1884, Pissarro wrote: 'Yes, we’ve made up our minds on Éragny-sur-Epte. The house is superb and inexpensive: a thousand francs, with garden and meadow' (quoted in J. Pissarro & C. Durand-Ruel Snollaerts, op. cit., p. 499). In 1892, with the financial help of Claude Monet who lived in neighbouring Giverny, Pissarro bought the house his family had been renting for the past eight years; the house exists to this day on a street named after the artist himself. A calm vision of nature, the peaceful luminosity of a pleasant early evening is tangibly conveyed. The church tower sits under a friendly pink-tinged sky, framed by delicate trees. Earthy tones make up the greenery and dashes of blue, white, grey and peach comprise the ever-changing cloudy sky, evoking moments of sunshine followed by shade. The technique used in this work illustrates Pissarro’s engagement with Neo-Impressionism. In Pissarro’s opinion, Impressionism was waning by 1883 and under the influence of Georges Seurat, he embraced the Pointillist technique of short, fragmented brushstrokes to capture the scintillating effect of sunlight over a luscious meadow. Seurat proclaimed Pissarro to be the first of the Impressionist painters to convert to the Neo-Impressionist style. In Le Clocher de Bazincourt, the artist used the Pointillist style to create vibrant colour contrasts, innovatively executing marks of yellow and mauve to bring the foliage to life, avoiding a formulaic approach and bringing a sense of spontaneity to the scene. From one of the windows of his house, Pissarro was able to see the steeple of the church, which suggests that the present composition may have been painted directly from his studio.

An enchanting portrayal of the rustic French countryside, the dappled effects of sunlight cause the colours to sparkle beautifully, encouraging the viewer to enjoy this intimate vista as much as the artist did. Despite utilising the Pointillist technique, Pissarro’s interest in the nuances of light and atmospheric changes never faltered and remained an important legacy of his earlier Impressionist style.