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Lot Essay
Of all the French Impressionist painters who experimented in printmaking, Camille Pissarro was both the most prolific and original, making over 190 etchings and lithographs during a period of over thirty-five years. Never expecting to make money out of the venture, Pissarro made prints for the sheer pleasure of the pursuit. In 1895 he wrote to his son Lucien: "What a pity there is no demand for my prints, I find this work as interesting as painting, which everybody does, and there are so few who achieve something in [printmaking]."
In 1879, Edgar Degas conceived the idea of publishing a journal of prints, Le Jour et la nuit to which Pissarro, Félix Bracquemond, and Mary Cassatt were to contribute. Despite Degas' efforts to promote the journal, the project never came to fruition. Exposure to Degas' new approaches to etching such as the use of liquid aquatint and softground were to have a profound effect on Pissarro, and his Foire de la Saint-Martin, À Pontoise was conceived during this period of his close association with Degas. This exceedingly rare first state, achieved primarily with aquatint and touches of drypoint, is the quintessential Impressionist print; the shadowy forms in the foreground seem to dissolve into the enveloping atmosphere beyond. The unusual and seemingly spontaneous effect that Pissarro achieved in this state is the result of complex procedures and intensive experimentation. This proof is reproduced in Delteil's catalogue raisonné prior to entering the Guérin collection.
In 1879, Edgar Degas conceived the idea of publishing a journal of prints, Le Jour et la nuit to which Pissarro, Félix Bracquemond, and Mary Cassatt were to contribute. Despite Degas' efforts to promote the journal, the project never came to fruition. Exposure to Degas' new approaches to etching such as the use of liquid aquatint and softground were to have a profound effect on Pissarro, and his Foire de la Saint-Martin, À Pontoise was conceived during this period of his close association with Degas. This exceedingly rare first state, achieved primarily with aquatint and touches of drypoint, is the quintessential Impressionist print; the shadowy forms in the foreground seem to dissolve into the enveloping atmosphere beyond. The unusual and seemingly spontaneous effect that Pissarro achieved in this state is the result of complex procedures and intensive experimentation. This proof is reproduced in Delteil's catalogue raisonné prior to entering the Guérin collection.