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Lot Essay
Christopher Lloyd and Joachim Pissarro have kindly confirmed the authenticity of this work.
A recent discovery, this previously unknown gouache is a vibrant and intricately executed new addition to Pissarro's oeuvre and relates to a series of gouaches executed after Pissarro's move from Pontoise to Éragny in April 1884. It was around this time that figure subjects became an important motif in Pissarro's work and Éragny and the surrounding countryside provided ample opportunity for Pissarro to continue to paint the daily activities of peasants and labourers that had so preoccupied him in Pontoise.
Related gouaches published in the catalogue raisonné, all of which depict a peasant female figure or figures tending a group of geese by a brook, date from circa 1888 (L.R. Pissarro & L. Venturi, Camille Pissarro, Son art - son oeuvre, vol. I, San Francisco, 1989, no. 1424) to circa 1895-1896 (ibid. no. 1478). The intricate handling of the medium and vibrant greens is also similar to Bergère et moutons (Fig. 1) of 1887.
Christopher Lloyd suggests that the present work is probably closest in date to Gardeuse d'oie au bord de l'Epte, Éragny (ibid. no. 1458), which is signed and dated 1890. A gouache on silk dated 1890 with similar compositional details will be offered in the Impressionist & Modern Works on Paper Sale on 5 February, lot 316.
A recent discovery, this previously unknown gouache is a vibrant and intricately executed new addition to Pissarro's oeuvre and relates to a series of gouaches executed after Pissarro's move from Pontoise to Éragny in April 1884. It was around this time that figure subjects became an important motif in Pissarro's work and Éragny and the surrounding countryside provided ample opportunity for Pissarro to continue to paint the daily activities of peasants and labourers that had so preoccupied him in Pontoise.
Related gouaches published in the catalogue raisonné, all of which depict a peasant female figure or figures tending a group of geese by a brook, date from circa 1888 (L.R. Pissarro & L. Venturi, Camille Pissarro, Son art - son oeuvre, vol. I, San Francisco, 1989, no. 1424) to circa 1895-1896 (ibid. no. 1478). The intricate handling of the medium and vibrant greens is also similar to Bergère et moutons (Fig. 1) of 1887.
Christopher Lloyd suggests that the present work is probably closest in date to Gardeuse d'oie au bord de l'Epte, Éragny (ibid. no. 1458), which is signed and dated 1890. A gouache on silk dated 1890 with similar compositional details will be offered in the Impressionist & Modern Works on Paper Sale on 5 February, lot 316.