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Lot Essay
Painted in 1878, Lisière de bois is an historic landscape by Camille Pissarro that was owned by his friend and fellow Impressionist, Gustave Caillebotte, and was lent by him to the seminal Fourth Impressionist Exhibition. The landscape is filled with all the characteristics of a great Impressionist painting. Pissarro has perfectly captured the effects of light, the clouds and the greenery, making it more than evident why he considered this work suitable for the exhibition whose organisation he and Caillebotte largely oversaw. This was one of seven paintings by Pissarro that Caillebotte loaned to the exhibition; Pissarro in fact showed more paintings than any of his colleagues, and likewise received much of the acclaim.
In publicising the exhibition, the Impressionists (not including Cézanne, Renoir and Sisley, all of whom refused to participate) decided not to use that term in their advertisements, but instead referred to it simply as the Quatrième Exposition de peinture. It was held in a large apartment at 28, Avenue de l'Opéra, and was visited by an astounding number of visitors-- over 15,000-- receiving widespread recognition and acclaim in a way that had never been granted to the movement previously. Lisière de bois, then, was a witness to the historic dawn of public acceptance of the Impressionists both on that occasion and, on the death of Caillebotte, through his legendary bequest. The pictures that he had owned, he left to the State, resulting in prolonged and difficult negotiations before a mere 38 of the 67 submitted pictures were accepted; when they were initially shown to the public, according to Caillebotte's wishes, they provoked outrage, yet now form the core of the celebrated collection at the Musée d'Orsay. It was Caillebotte's bequest, and indeed the debate that led to its acceptance, that truly marked the acceptance of the Impressionists by at least a part of the establishment. Following its rejection by the State, Lisière de bois was returned to Caillebotte's family, remaining in their hands to this day.
In publicising the exhibition, the Impressionists (not including Cézanne, Renoir and Sisley, all of whom refused to participate) decided not to use that term in their advertisements, but instead referred to it simply as the Quatrième Exposition de peinture. It was held in a large apartment at 28, Avenue de l'Opéra, and was visited by an astounding number of visitors-- over 15,000-- receiving widespread recognition and acclaim in a way that had never been granted to the movement previously. Lisière de bois, then, was a witness to the historic dawn of public acceptance of the Impressionists both on that occasion and, on the death of Caillebotte, through his legendary bequest. The pictures that he had owned, he left to the State, resulting in prolonged and difficult negotiations before a mere 38 of the 67 submitted pictures were accepted; when they were initially shown to the public, according to Caillebotte's wishes, they provoked outrage, yet now form the core of the celebrated collection at the Musée d'Orsay. It was Caillebotte's bequest, and indeed the debate that led to its acceptance, that truly marked the acceptance of the Impressionists by at least a part of the establishment. Following its rejection by the State, Lisière de bois was returned to Caillebotte's family, remaining in their hands to this day.