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Lot Essay
Painted circa 1874, Julie Pissarro cousant shows the artist's wife in an intimate moment, absorbed in her task and observed by her husband. This is an invitation into Pissarro's private universe; it is therefore only fitting that, following the artists death in 1903, the picture remained in the hands of a succession of family members for several decades. In this picture, Pissarro has managed to combine a keenly-observed domestic scene with the lush greenery of the outdoors, hinting at its being created in Pontoise, the village he had only recently made his home.
This picture dates from the very dawn of the Impressionist movement, of which Pissarro was one of the leading figures. It was in 1874 that he, alongside Monet and various others, organised the first exhibition, an event which led to the comments by critics of the day dubbing the group 'Impressionnistes'. The exhibition had initially been met with a hostile reaction, yet this was a period during which Pissarro and his fellow Impressionists gained an increasing degree of patronage and support. In contrast to the works of their more academic contemporaries, Pissarro and his colleagues sought to introduce a new pictorial truth into their works, while also harnessing some degree of sensation rather than the mere sight itself. This is clear in Julie Pissarro cousant, in which the artist has perfectly captured that transient moment, with his wife sewing, in an impression. The vigorous brushstrokes that fill so much of the surface imply that Pissarro was working from life, rapidly capturing the scene before him. At the same time, the way in which Pissarro has lent the figure of Julie a certain sense of weight and plasticity perhaps reveals the influence of his friend and protegé at the time, Paul Cézanne.
This picture dates from the very dawn of the Impressionist movement, of which Pissarro was one of the leading figures. It was in 1874 that he, alongside Monet and various others, organised the first exhibition, an event which led to the comments by critics of the day dubbing the group 'Impressionnistes'. The exhibition had initially been met with a hostile reaction, yet this was a period during which Pissarro and his fellow Impressionists gained an increasing degree of patronage and support. In contrast to the works of their more academic contemporaries, Pissarro and his colleagues sought to introduce a new pictorial truth into their works, while also harnessing some degree of sensation rather than the mere sight itself. This is clear in Julie Pissarro cousant, in which the artist has perfectly captured that transient moment, with his wife sewing, in an impression. The vigorous brushstrokes that fill so much of the surface imply that Pissarro was working from life, rapidly capturing the scene before him. At the same time, the way in which Pissarro has lent the figure of Julie a certain sense of weight and plasticity perhaps reveals the influence of his friend and protegé at the time, Paul Cézanne.