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Lot Essay
In 1884 Pissarro moved to Eragny, a small village in Normandy near Gisors, which would be his home until his death in 1903. The countryside surrounding Eragny was devoid of modernized farming and industrial imagery, providing the artist with the perfect setting in which to pursue one of his favorite themes: the depiction of rural life. Camille Pissarro wrote to his son Lucien in March 1884, "Yes we have decided for Eragny on the Epte [near Gisors]. The house is wonderful with garden and fields. It is about two hours from Paris. I found the country much more beautiful than Compigne. . .But here comes the spring, the fields are green, outlines are delicate in the distance" (J. Rewald, Camille Pissarro, Letters to his son Lucien, London, 1980, p. 58).
Discussing these fine luminescent works of the Eragny period, Christopher Lloyd writes, "One of the more important aspects of this final period is the return to subject matter traditionally associated with Impressionism. It is as if Pissarro was determined to reassess Impressionism. The rural paintings dating from the 1890s retain a luminosity of texture that is derived from the close working of the intensity about these paintings. . .that enriches them with an almost visionary quality" (C. Lloyd and A. Distel, Camille Pissarro, exh. cat., Hayward Gallery, London, 1981, p. 134).
Discussing these fine luminescent works of the Eragny period, Christopher Lloyd writes, "One of the more important aspects of this final period is the return to subject matter traditionally associated with Impressionism. It is as if Pissarro was determined to reassess Impressionism. The rural paintings dating from the 1890s retain a luminosity of texture that is derived from the close working of the intensity about these paintings. . .that enriches them with an almost visionary quality" (C. Lloyd and A. Distel, Camille Pissarro, exh. cat., Hayward Gallery, London, 1981, p. 134).