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Lot Essay
In 1884, Pissarro purchased a home in Eragny-sur-Epte, a small village in Normandy, and converted the barn overlooking the garden into a studio. The artist wrote to his son Lucien, “The house is superb and inexpensive; a thousand francs, with garden and meadow. It is two hours from Paris. I found the region much more beautiful than Compiègne” (quoted in J. Pissarro and C. Durand-Ruel Snollaerts, op. cit., p. 499).
There, in the final two decades of his career, Pissarro returned to painting Impressionist landscapes en plein air. He frequently found inspiration in the countryside at Eragny and the neighboring villlage of Bazincourt, studying the picturesque fields and trees from different perspectives and under variable conditions. Subtle changes in season, weather, and light all informed the artist’s color palette and painting technique. As Joachim Pissarro has written, “Pissarro could never get enough of Eragny. His travels always brought him back with renewed resources, fresh ideas, and an eagerness to paint the same and yet ever different locations once again” (Camille Pissarro, New York, 1993, p. 241).
In Vue de Bazincourt en hiver, Pissarro depicted a chilly meadow during winter. He observed the scene from a slightly elevated vantage point, likely from the window of his studio. The painting is a study in contrasting colors: the vivid green field is sparsely populated by leafless trees, rendered with quick dabs of mauve and gray paint. In the distance, the steeple of the church at Bazincourt appears to emerge above the treetops.
There, in the final two decades of his career, Pissarro returned to painting Impressionist landscapes en plein air. He frequently found inspiration in the countryside at Eragny and the neighboring villlage of Bazincourt, studying the picturesque fields and trees from different perspectives and under variable conditions. Subtle changes in season, weather, and light all informed the artist’s color palette and painting technique. As Joachim Pissarro has written, “Pissarro could never get enough of Eragny. His travels always brought him back with renewed resources, fresh ideas, and an eagerness to paint the same and yet ever different locations once again” (Camille Pissarro, New York, 1993, p. 241).
In Vue de Bazincourt en hiver, Pissarro depicted a chilly meadow during winter. He observed the scene from a slightly elevated vantage point, likely from the window of his studio. The painting is a study in contrasting colors: the vivid green field is sparsely populated by leafless trees, rendered with quick dabs of mauve and gray paint. In the distance, the steeple of the church at Bazincourt appears to emerge above the treetops.