LOT DETAILS

Materials:

Oil on canvas

Measurements:

2.95 in. (7.50 cm.) (height) by 4.18 in. (10.62 cm.) (width)

Markings:

Signed lower left: C. Pissarro

Literature:

J. Pissarro, C. Durand-Ruel Snollaert, A. du Buffévent and A. Champié, Pissarro: Catalogue critique des peintures, Volume II, Milan, Italy, 2005, p. 796, no. 1284, illustrated. Between 1884 and his death in 1903, Pissarro and his family lived at Eragny, a tiny hamlet on the banks of the Epte, about forty-five miles northwest of Paris. The bucolic landscape there proved a source of limitless inspiration to the artist during these two decades. Joachim Pissarro has written, "Unlike Pontoise, whose tensions were those of a suburban town, semi-rural and semi-urban, in Eragny, no signs of industry could be observed for miles. Varied expanses of pasture and cultivated land complete the visual field. However, Eragny's earthly space is not banal. For twenty years Pissarro concentrated on this very confined area, on the visual material offered by the stretch of meadows lying in front of him, informed by poplars, gates, the river, and produced over two hundred paintings of these motifs. His representations of these fields and gardens constitute the most spectacularly intense pictorial effort to 'cover' a particular given space in his career... Pissarro could never get enough of Eragny. His infrequent travels always brought him back to Eragny with renewed resources, fresh ideas, and an eagerness to paint the same and yet ever different locations once again. The years that he spent in Eragny undeniably constitute a significant episode in the history of late Impressionism" (Camille Pissarro, New York, 1993, pp. 225 and 241). Pissarro did not remain indoors in his studio but set out into the field, very likely with his rolling easel. He explored the pictorial possibilities offered by his native environs throughout the seasons: with the effervescent blooms of spring, the verdant leaves of summer, the vibrant foliage of autumn, and the bare boughs of winter, dusted with frost or weighted by snow. The delight that Pissarro took in painting this particular locale is evident in the present work. The red-roofed house with a stout little chimney is modest but charming and inviting. The sky is a vivid blue scumbled with cottony white, and the foliage lush and leafy, with dense, rich greens signifying a sense of abundance. Eragny represented a place of peace and flourishing creativity for the artist, where he produced some of his finest works. Although modest in scale, Coin du jardin à Eragny demonstrates the artist's enchantment with the rich rustic life he found outside the city. It was there that Pissarro found the serenity to reflect on the passing seasons, capturing the nuances of their beauty with each passing day.

Provenance:

Mme Fernand Moch, Paris; Collection Didier Kahn-Sriber, Paris; Sotheby's, Paris, October 2, 2003, lot 140; Richard Green, Fine Paintings, London, circa 2006; Acquired by the present owner from the above.