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Lot Essay
This work will be included in the forthcoming Camille Pissarro catalogue critique of pastels and gouaches, currently being prepared under the sponsorship of the Wildenstein Institute.
Claire Durand-Ruel Snollaerts has confirmed that in her opinion this work is authentic.
Between May 1883 and February 1884, Pissarro scoured the outskirts of Paris, looking for a large family home to accommodate his growing family. In April 1884 he at last found a suitable house in the village of Éragny. Pissarro was delighted with his new home which would provide endless new sources of inspiration.
The artist, along with his contemporaries Edgar Degas and Jean-Louis Forain, was drawn to the japonisme of fan decoration in the late 1870s. In his revival of the 18th century craft of fan painting, Pissarro depicted full compositional narratives as opposed to ornate decoration. Pissarro typically pictured the natural beauty of the French countryside, particularly following his move to new-found subjects and views in the surroundings of Éragny.
The present lot, formerly in the collection of the eminent book and art collector Chester Beatty, is rare amongst the fans that Pissarro executed in its depiction of an identifiably winter scene, but typical in its masterful use of the elongated format of the fan to create the effect of distant receding space. In Les porteuses de fagots, effet de neige Pissarro has used the central fence receding into the distance to emphasise the relationship between the figures in the foreground and the landscape in the background – the curved format of the fan lends itself to such a panoramic view.
As Christoper Lloyd has described: “To a certain extent the fan may have assisted Pissarro in his search for compositional unity. The emphasis that had to be placed on the two corners of the fan meant that figures were given prominence against the background. Landscapes and horizon lines in the upper half of the fan either have a horizontal emphasis or else echo the curvature of the fan itself…He sought different atmospheric effects in compositions of seasonal import, but at the same time did not spurn more ‘modern’ themes, such as the railway bridge at Pontoise and the port at Rouen.” (C. Lloyd, Pissarro, exh. cat., London, 1980, p. 235).
Claire Durand-Ruel Snollaerts has confirmed that in her opinion this work is authentic.
Between May 1883 and February 1884, Pissarro scoured the outskirts of Paris, looking for a large family home to accommodate his growing family. In April 1884 he at last found a suitable house in the village of Éragny. Pissarro was delighted with his new home which would provide endless new sources of inspiration.
The artist, along with his contemporaries Edgar Degas and Jean-Louis Forain, was drawn to the japonisme of fan decoration in the late 1870s. In his revival of the 18th century craft of fan painting, Pissarro depicted full compositional narratives as opposed to ornate decoration. Pissarro typically pictured the natural beauty of the French countryside, particularly following his move to new-found subjects and views in the surroundings of Éragny.
The present lot, formerly in the collection of the eminent book and art collector Chester Beatty, is rare amongst the fans that Pissarro executed in its depiction of an identifiably winter scene, but typical in its masterful use of the elongated format of the fan to create the effect of distant receding space. In Les porteuses de fagots, effet de neige Pissarro has used the central fence receding into the distance to emphasise the relationship between the figures in the foreground and the landscape in the background – the curved format of the fan lends itself to such a panoramic view.
As Christoper Lloyd has described: “To a certain extent the fan may have assisted Pissarro in his search for compositional unity. The emphasis that had to be placed on the two corners of the fan meant that figures were given prominence against the background. Landscapes and horizon lines in the upper half of the fan either have a horizontal emphasis or else echo the curvature of the fan itself…He sought different atmospheric effects in compositions of seasonal import, but at the same time did not spurn more ‘modern’ themes, such as the railway bridge at Pontoise and the port at Rouen.” (C. Lloyd, Pissarro, exh. cat., London, 1980, p. 235).