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Lot Essay
Commenting on Pissarro's many striking figurative paintings exhibited in the Seventh Impressionist Exhibition of 1882, Huysmans wrote, "Now this painter reveals himself to us under an entirely new aspect! As I have written before, I believe, the human figure, in his work, often took on a biblical allure, but not anymore. M. Pissarro has freed himself almost completely from recollections of Millet. He paints his country folks without false grandeur, simply, as he sees them. His charming girls in red stockings, his old women with kerchiefs, his shepherdesses and washerwomen, his peasant girls breakfasting or gathering wheat are truly little masterpieces." (J. Rewald, Pissarro, London, 1963).
In the early 1880s, Pissarro's concept of the human figure changed dramatically. Previously recognised as a landscape painter, Pissarro began a series of works in which the human figure became his focus. Having recently moved to Eragny-sur-Epte, Pissarro was taken by the beautiful simplicity of the country girls in their local costumes and began to paint a whole series of canvases using them as his subjects. This series includes works such as his 1881 masterpiece The shepherdess (Muse d'Orsay, Paris), Jeune fille assise dans la campagne (fig. 2) and Gardeuse d'oies (fig. 1). In all of these paintings Pissarro is keen to catch his sitters as they relax between their chores. "The figure in Pissarro's paintings of the early 1880s are immobile, or alternatively, pursue gentle tasks. They sit, they lie, or loll on the ground, chatting, resting or reflecting. It is as though, having decided to enlarge the figure within the composition, Pissarro wants to focus our attention on the inner state of mind, as opposed to outward activity." (C. Lloyd, Camille Pissarro, 1981, p. 94-96).
In the early 1880s, Pissarro's concept of the human figure changed dramatically. Previously recognised as a landscape painter, Pissarro began a series of works in which the human figure became his focus. Having recently moved to Eragny-sur-Epte, Pissarro was taken by the beautiful simplicity of the country girls in their local costumes and began to paint a whole series of canvases using them as his subjects. This series includes works such as his 1881 masterpiece The shepherdess (Muse d'Orsay, Paris), Jeune fille assise dans la campagne (fig. 2) and Gardeuse d'oies (fig. 1). In all of these paintings Pissarro is keen to catch his sitters as they relax between their chores. "The figure in Pissarro's paintings of the early 1880s are immobile, or alternatively, pursue gentle tasks. They sit, they lie, or loll on the ground, chatting, resting or reflecting. It is as though, having decided to enlarge the figure within the composition, Pissarro wants to focus our attention on the inner state of mind, as opposed to outward activity." (C. Lloyd, Camille Pissarro, 1981, p. 94-96).