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Lot Essay
Pissarro painted Le Clocher de Bazincourt circa 1895, more than a decade after he had moved from Pontoise to Eragny-sur Epte, a small village near Gisors on the Paris-Dieppe Road. The journey from Pissarro’s new home in Eragny to the neighboring village of Bazincourt took only fifteen minutes or so on foot, and over the next decades Pissarro would paint more views of Bazincourt, with its characteristic steeple, than of any other motif in his oeuvre (J. Pissarro and C. Durand-Ruel Snollaerts, op. cit., p. 500). Christopher Lloyd writes of this period:
“Pissarro had rented a large house with grounds [in Eragny-sur-Epte]. With some financial help from Monet, Pissarro was able to buy the house in 1892 and to convert a substantial house in the garden into his studio. The studio overlooked an orchard and beyond that the meadows leading to the neighboring village of Bazincourt. Pissarro, now aged and suffering almost constantly from an eye complaint, became more sedentary and frequently had to observe motifs from behind protected positions. Yet, like Monet at Giverny, Pissarro’s examination of the rural spectacles that surrounded him was intense. He luxuriated in the changing temporal conditions and found fogs, frosts and snow of winter or the vibrant warmth and lush verdure of summer equally rewarding” (C. Lloyd, Pissarro, Geneva, 1981, pp. 110 and 112).
Likely painted from his studio looking towards town, Pissarro deftly illustrated the lush landscape of his property in the present work. At the center of the painting, the Bazincourt steeple barely peaks through the verdant overgrowth of trees on either side. The abundance of foliage is accentuated by his use of thick brushstrokes in shades of vibrant and rich greens. Peaking through the trees, at the center of the composition, the steeple of Bazincourt is the only suggestion of civilization. It’s dark color blends into the background, emphasizing Pissarro’s focus on the beauty of nature and its bounty. As Théodore Duret wrote to him in 1873, “I still believe that rustic nature, with its fields and animals, is what best suits your talent. You do not have Sisley’s decorative feeling, or Monet’s fantastic eye, but you have what they don’t have: an intimate and deep feeling for nature as well as a powerful brushstroke, so that a beautiful picture by you is something with an absolute presence… Go on your own way, towards rural nature: thus you will explore a new avenue and will go further and higher than any master” (quoted in J. Pissarro, Camille Pissarro, New York, 1993, p. 143).
“Pissarro had rented a large house with grounds [in Eragny-sur-Epte]. With some financial help from Monet, Pissarro was able to buy the house in 1892 and to convert a substantial house in the garden into his studio. The studio overlooked an orchard and beyond that the meadows leading to the neighboring village of Bazincourt. Pissarro, now aged and suffering almost constantly from an eye complaint, became more sedentary and frequently had to observe motifs from behind protected positions. Yet, like Monet at Giverny, Pissarro’s examination of the rural spectacles that surrounded him was intense. He luxuriated in the changing temporal conditions and found fogs, frosts and snow of winter or the vibrant warmth and lush verdure of summer equally rewarding” (C. Lloyd, Pissarro, Geneva, 1981, pp. 110 and 112).
Likely painted from his studio looking towards town, Pissarro deftly illustrated the lush landscape of his property in the present work. At the center of the painting, the Bazincourt steeple barely peaks through the verdant overgrowth of trees on either side. The abundance of foliage is accentuated by his use of thick brushstrokes in shades of vibrant and rich greens. Peaking through the trees, at the center of the composition, the steeple of Bazincourt is the only suggestion of civilization. It’s dark color blends into the background, emphasizing Pissarro’s focus on the beauty of nature and its bounty. As Théodore Duret wrote to him in 1873, “I still believe that rustic nature, with its fields and animals, is what best suits your talent. You do not have Sisley’s decorative feeling, or Monet’s fantastic eye, but you have what they don’t have: an intimate and deep feeling for nature as well as a powerful brushstroke, so that a beautiful picture by you is something with an absolute presence… Go on your own way, towards rural nature: thus you will explore a new avenue and will go further and higher than any master” (quoted in J. Pissarro, Camille Pissarro, New York, 1993, p. 143).