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Lot Essay
THE YEARS OF 1877-8 WERE DIFFICULT ONES FOR PISSARRO. THE DEATH OF HIS CLOSE FRIEND, PIETTE, AND A TROUBLING PREGNANCY FOR HIS WIFE, JULIE, WERE TREMENDOUS PERSONAL TRIALS. MOREOVER, PISSARRO NOT ONLY HAD TO CONTEND WITH CONTINUING AND GRINDING PENURY, BUT WITH HIS OWN DESPONDENCY AND JULIE'S EXASPERATION AT HIS LACK OF PUBLIC RECOGNITION AND, AS HE MISTAKENLY UNDERSTOOD IT, INSUFFICIENT PROMOTION OF HIS WORK ON THE PART OF HIS DEALERS, DURAND-RUEL.
IN 1877 PISSARRO RETURNED TO PONTOISE. FOLLOWING HIS STAY AT LOUVECIENNES IN 1872, WHERE HE WORKED BESIDE MONET, RENOIR AND SISLEY, PISSARRO HAD WORKED IN PONTOISE IN THE COMPANY OF CéZANNE AND GUILLAUMIN. THIS TIME HE WAS AGAIN JOINED BY CéZANNE, FOR WHOM THE 'HUMBLE AND COLOSSAL' PISSARRO WAS A LIFE-LONG GUIDING LIGHT. AS THEY PAINTED SIDE BY SIDE, SUR LA MOTIF, CéZANNE'S INFLUENCE ON THE OLDER MAN IS DISCERNABLE IN TERMS OF THE SHEER LEVEL OF STUDIED APPLICATION HIS CANVASES OF THIS PERIOD BETRAY, AND IN THEIR UNEXPECTED CHOICE OF SUBJECTS, FREQUENTLY LACKING A TRADITIONAL FOCAL POINT, AS IS THE CASE WITH PAYSAGE 'AU CHOU, PRèS PONTOISE.
THE HEAVILY LADEN PAINT SURFACE AND COMPOSITION OF PAYSAGE 'AU CHOU', CONSTRUCTED THROUGH COUNTLESS TACHES OF A LOADED BRUSH APPLIED WITH VIGOUR ACROSS THE WHOLE PICTURE PLANE, RECALLS THE DENSELY 'WOVEN' TEXTURE OF THE CôTE DES BOUEFS, L'HERMITAGE OF 1877 (NATIONAL GALLERY, LONDON). IT WAS IN FACT AROUND THIS TIME THAT CéZANNE WAS FORMULATING HIS SO-CALLED 'CONSTRUCTIVE' BRUSHSTROKE OF TIGHTLY KNIT, PARALLEL DASHES, AND ONE CAN PERHAPS DIVINE IN THE FACTURE OF THE PRESENT WORK PISSARRO'S OWN ANSWER TO THE DIFFICULTIES OF SURFACE UNITY. THE WEFT OF GREENS AND BLUES, WHILST KNITTING TOGETHER THE COMPOSITION, ALSO HINT AT A GENTLE WIND BILLOWING THE GRASS AND LEAVES, CONVEYING A DELICIOUS OPULENCE AND IMMEDIACY.
GAUGUIN, WHO FIRST BEGAN TO PAINT WITH PISSARRO IN PONTOISE IN 1879, ALWAYS ADMIRED THE VERY PERSONAL FRESHNESS THAT THE OLDER MAN BROUGHT TO HIS WORK. WRITING IN 1902, GAUGUIN'S RESPECT WAS MANIFEST: 'IF WE OBSERVE THE TOTALITY OF PISSARRO'S WORK, WE FIND THERE, DESPITE FLUCTUATIONS, NOT ONLY AN EXTREME ARTISTIC WILL, NEVER BELIED, BUT ALSO AN ESSENTIALLY INTUITIVE, PURE-BRED ART...HE LOOKED AT EVERYBODY, YOU SAY! WHY NOT? EVERYONE LOOKED AT HIM, TOO, BUT DENIED HIM. HE WAS ONE OF MY MASTERS AND I DO NOT DENY HIM' (QUOTED IN K. ADLER, CAMILLE PISSARRO, LONDON, 1978, P. 74).
IN 1877 PISSARRO RETURNED TO PONTOISE. FOLLOWING HIS STAY AT LOUVECIENNES IN 1872, WHERE HE WORKED BESIDE MONET, RENOIR AND SISLEY, PISSARRO HAD WORKED IN PONTOISE IN THE COMPANY OF CéZANNE AND GUILLAUMIN. THIS TIME HE WAS AGAIN JOINED BY CéZANNE, FOR WHOM THE 'HUMBLE AND COLOSSAL' PISSARRO WAS A LIFE-LONG GUIDING LIGHT. AS THEY PAINTED SIDE BY SIDE, SUR LA MOTIF, CéZANNE'S INFLUENCE ON THE OLDER MAN IS DISCERNABLE IN TERMS OF THE SHEER LEVEL OF STUDIED APPLICATION HIS CANVASES OF THIS PERIOD BETRAY, AND IN THEIR UNEXPECTED CHOICE OF SUBJECTS, FREQUENTLY LACKING A TRADITIONAL FOCAL POINT, AS IS THE CASE WITH PAYSAGE 'AU CHOU, PRèS PONTOISE.
THE HEAVILY LADEN PAINT SURFACE AND COMPOSITION OF PAYSAGE 'AU CHOU', CONSTRUCTED THROUGH COUNTLESS TACHES OF A LOADED BRUSH APPLIED WITH VIGOUR ACROSS THE WHOLE PICTURE PLANE, RECALLS THE DENSELY 'WOVEN' TEXTURE OF THE CôTE DES BOUEFS, L'HERMITAGE OF 1877 (NATIONAL GALLERY, LONDON). IT WAS IN FACT AROUND THIS TIME THAT CéZANNE WAS FORMULATING HIS SO-CALLED 'CONSTRUCTIVE' BRUSHSTROKE OF TIGHTLY KNIT, PARALLEL DASHES, AND ONE CAN PERHAPS DIVINE IN THE FACTURE OF THE PRESENT WORK PISSARRO'S OWN ANSWER TO THE DIFFICULTIES OF SURFACE UNITY. THE WEFT OF GREENS AND BLUES, WHILST KNITTING TOGETHER THE COMPOSITION, ALSO HINT AT A GENTLE WIND BILLOWING THE GRASS AND LEAVES, CONVEYING A DELICIOUS OPULENCE AND IMMEDIACY.
GAUGUIN, WHO FIRST BEGAN TO PAINT WITH PISSARRO IN PONTOISE IN 1879, ALWAYS ADMIRED THE VERY PERSONAL FRESHNESS THAT THE OLDER MAN BROUGHT TO HIS WORK. WRITING IN 1902, GAUGUIN'S RESPECT WAS MANIFEST: 'IF WE OBSERVE THE TOTALITY OF PISSARRO'S WORK, WE FIND THERE, DESPITE FLUCTUATIONS, NOT ONLY AN EXTREME ARTISTIC WILL, NEVER BELIED, BUT ALSO AN ESSENTIALLY INTUITIVE, PURE-BRED ART...HE LOOKED AT EVERYBODY, YOU SAY! WHY NOT? EVERYONE LOOKED AT HIM, TOO, BUT DENIED HIM. HE WAS ONE OF MY MASTERS AND I DO NOT DENY HIM' (QUOTED IN K. ADLER, CAMILLE PISSARRO, LONDON, 1978, P. 74).