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Lot Essay
Dulwich College, Londres is one of the last of twelve paintings inspired by Camille Pissarro's visit to England during the Franco-Prussian war to still remain in a private collection. Painted in 1871, it represents one of London's historical and architectural landmarks, and reflects the stylistic and artistic changes brought about by the close friendship between Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro.
In July 1870, with the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian war, Camille Pissarro fled his home in the tranquil town of Louveciennes, near Paris. After taking refuge at Ludovic Piette's farm in Brittany, the failure of the French troops at Sedan, and the declaration of the Third Republic on 4 September 1870, drove Pissarro and his family to cross the Channel to England. Upon their arrival in the autumn of that year they settled in a small apartment in South London, located at 2 Chatham Terrace, Palace Road, in Upper Norwood.
In 1870, Norwood, Dulwich and Sydenham were developing rapidly following the opening of the Crystal Palace on Sydenham Hill by Queen Victoria in 1854 and the growth of the South London railway system. The new buildings of Dulwich College, represented in the present work by Pissarro, opened in 1870 and were part of the important developments undertaken in the South London area.
With Monet, who had also taken refuge in England during the war, Pissarro visited the city's landmarks, museums and galleries, observing the art and architecture of the great English masters they both admired. Discussing their friendship and shared interests, Pissarro told the British painter, Wynford Dewhurst: 'Monet worked in the parks, whilst I, living at Lower Norwood, at that time a charming suburb, studied the effects of mist, snow and springtime' (W. Dewhurst, Impressionist Painting, Its Genesis and Development, London, 1904, pp. 31-32). Czanne admired the works of these years to such a degree he once said: 'Pissarro had continued to paint as he did in the 1870s, he would have been the master of us all' (N. Reed, Camille Pissarro at Crystal Palace, London, 1993, p. 2).
We are grateful to Dr. J. R. Piggott of Dulwich College for his assistance in preparing this catalogue entry.
In July 1870, with the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian war, Camille Pissarro fled his home in the tranquil town of Louveciennes, near Paris. After taking refuge at Ludovic Piette's farm in Brittany, the failure of the French troops at Sedan, and the declaration of the Third Republic on 4 September 1870, drove Pissarro and his family to cross the Channel to England. Upon their arrival in the autumn of that year they settled in a small apartment in South London, located at 2 Chatham Terrace, Palace Road, in Upper Norwood.
In 1870, Norwood, Dulwich and Sydenham were developing rapidly following the opening of the Crystal Palace on Sydenham Hill by Queen Victoria in 1854 and the growth of the South London railway system. The new buildings of Dulwich College, represented in the present work by Pissarro, opened in 1870 and were part of the important developments undertaken in the South London area.
With Monet, who had also taken refuge in England during the war, Pissarro visited the city's landmarks, museums and galleries, observing the art and architecture of the great English masters they both admired. Discussing their friendship and shared interests, Pissarro told the British painter, Wynford Dewhurst: 'Monet worked in the parks, whilst I, living at Lower Norwood, at that time a charming suburb, studied the effects of mist, snow and springtime' (W. Dewhurst, Impressionist Painting, Its Genesis and Development, London, 1904, pp. 31-32). Czanne admired the works of these years to such a degree he once said: 'Pissarro had continued to paint as he did in the 1870s, he would have been the master of us all' (N. Reed, Camille Pissarro at Crystal Palace, London, 1993, p. 2).
We are grateful to Dr. J. R. Piggott of Dulwich College for his assistance in preparing this catalogue entry.