CAMILLE PISSARRO (1830-1903)

 
<div>Camille Pissarro’s<em> Paysage avec batteuse à Montfoucault </em>(c. 1875) is an exceptionally vivid pastel that unites the artist’s keen observation of rural life with the Impressionists’ fascination for light, atmosphere, and immediacy. Executed at a moment when Pissarro was deeply engaged with agrarian subjects, the composition centers on a working landscape—haystacks and farm structures set against dense foliage—where a solitary figure anchors the scene in lived experience. The motif is quintessentially Impressionist: an unembellished view of the modern, “seen” world, and a fleeting moment of real life recorded with speed and sensitivity. </div><br><br><div> </div><br><br><div>Pastel, with its directness and chromatic intensity, proved uniquely efficient for Impressionist artists seeking to capture transient light effects and faithful likenesses without the slower procedures of oil. Here, Pissarro exploits the medium’s strengths brilliantly. Soft, powdery passages dissolve edges into atmosphere, while firmer, painterly strokes build structure and texture across the hay, timber, and ground. The surface retains a remarkable freshness, with color that remains luminous and varied—cool blues and greens offset by warm straw, ochres, and sunlit highlights—allowing the viewer to experience the work’s original spontaneity. </div><br><br><div> </div><br><br><div>This work’s significance is underscored by its recent exhibition history: it was shown in 2020 at the J. Paul Getty Museum in<em> Powder and Light: Pastels in Late Nineteenth Century</em>, a focused exploration of how artists of the period embraced pastel as both experimental and modern. Beautifully preserved,<em> Paysage avec batteuse à Montfoucault </em>offers a direct encounter with Pissarro’s touch—each stroke visible, each tonal shift purposeful—capturing the countryside not as an ideal, but as a place of work, weather, and changing light. </div> <div>Camille Pissarro’s<em> Paysage avec batteuse à Montfoucault </em>(c. 1875) is an exceptionally vivid pastel that unites the artist’s keen observation of rural life with the Impressionists’ fascination for light, atmosphere, and immediacy. Executed at a moment when Pissarro was deeply engaged with agrarian subjects, the composition centers on a working landscape—haystacks and farm structures set against dense foliage—where a solitary figure anchors the scene in lived experience. The motif is quintessentially Impressionist: an unembellished view of the modern, “seen” world, and a fleeting moment of real life recorded with speed and sensitivity. </div><br><br><div> </div><br><br><div>Pastel, with its directness and chromatic intensity, proved uniquely efficient for Impressionist artists seeking to capture transient light effects and faithful likenesses without the slower procedures of oil. Here, Pissarro exploits the medium’s strengths brilliantly. Soft, powdery passages dissolve edges into atmosphere, while firmer, painterly strokes build structure and texture across the hay, timber, and ground. The surface retains a remarkable freshness, with color that remains luminous and varied—cool blues and greens offset by warm straw, ochres, and sunlit highlights—allowing the viewer to experience the work’s original spontaneity. </div><br><br><div> </div><br><br><div>This work’s significance is underscored by its recent exhibition history: it was shown in 2020 at the J. Paul Getty Museum in<em> Powder and Light: Pastels in Late Nineteenth Century</em>, a focused exploration of how artists of the period embraced pastel as both experimental and modern. Beautifully preserved,<em> Paysage avec batteuse à Montfoucault </em>offers a direct encounter with Pissarro’s touch—each stroke visible, each tonal shift purposeful—capturing the countryside not as an ideal, but as a place of work, weather, and changing light. </div> <div>Camille Pissarro’s<em> Paysage avec batteuse à Montfoucault </em>(c. 1875) is an exceptionally vivid pastel that unites the artist’s keen observation of rural life with the Impressionists’ fascination for light, atmosphere, and immediacy. Executed at a moment when Pissarro was deeply engaged with agrarian subjects, the composition centers on a working landscape—haystacks and farm structures set against dense foliage—where a solitary figure anchors the scene in lived experience. The motif is quintessentially Impressionist: an unembellished view of the modern, “seen” world, and a fleeting moment of real life recorded with speed and sensitivity. </div><br><br><div> </div><br><br><div>Pastel, with its directness and chromatic intensity, proved uniquely efficient for Impressionist artists seeking to capture transient light effects and faithful likenesses without the slower procedures of oil. Here, Pissarro exploits the medium’s strengths brilliantly. Soft, powdery passages dissolve edges into atmosphere, while firmer, painterly strokes build structure and texture across the hay, timber, and ground. The surface retains a remarkable freshness, with color that remains luminous and varied—cool blues and greens offset by warm straw, ochres, and sunlit highlights—allowing the viewer to experience the work’s original spontaneity. </div><br><br><div> </div><br><br><div>This work’s significance is underscored by its recent exhibition history: it was shown in 2020 at the J. Paul Getty Museum in<em> Powder and Light: Pastels in Late Nineteenth Century</em>, a focused exploration of how artists of the period embraced pastel as both experimental and modern. Beautifully preserved,<em> Paysage avec batteuse à Montfoucault </em>offers a direct encounter with Pissarro’s touch—each stroke visible, each tonal shift purposeful—capturing the countryside not as an ideal, but as a place of work, weather, and changing light. </div> <div>Camille Pissarro’s<em> Paysage avec batteuse à Montfoucault </em>(c. 1875) is an exceptionally vivid pastel that unites the artist’s keen observation of rural life with the Impressionists’ fascination for light, atmosphere, and immediacy. Executed at a moment when Pissarro was deeply engaged with agrarian subjects, the composition centers on a working landscape—haystacks and farm structures set against dense foliage—where a solitary figure anchors the scene in lived experience. The motif is quintessentially Impressionist: an unembellished view of the modern, “seen” world, and a fleeting moment of real life recorded with speed and sensitivity. </div><br><br><div> </div><br><br><div>Pastel, with its directness and chromatic intensity, proved uniquely efficient for Impressionist artists seeking to capture transient light effects and faithful likenesses without the slower procedures of oil. Here, Pissarro exploits the medium’s strengths brilliantly. Soft, powdery passages dissolve edges into atmosphere, while firmer, painterly strokes build structure and texture across the hay, timber, and ground. The surface retains a remarkable freshness, with color that remains luminous and varied—cool blues and greens offset by warm straw, ochres, and sunlit highlights—allowing the viewer to experience the work’s original spontaneity. </div><br><br><div> </div><br><br><div>This work’s significance is underscored by its recent exhibition history: it was shown in 2020 at the J. Paul Getty Museum in<em> Powder and Light: Pastels in Late Nineteenth Century</em>, a focused exploration of how artists of the period embraced pastel as both experimental and modern. Beautifully preserved,<em> Paysage avec batteuse à Montfoucault </em>offers a direct encounter with Pissarro’s touch—each stroke visible, each tonal shift purposeful—capturing the countryside not as an ideal, but as a place of work, weather, and changing light. </div> <div>Camille Pissarro’s<em> Paysage avec batteuse à Montfoucault </em>(c. 1875) is an exceptionally vivid pastel that unites the artist’s keen observation of rural life with the Impressionists’ fascination for light, atmosphere, and immediacy. Executed at a moment when Pissarro was deeply engaged with agrarian subjects, the composition centers on a working landscape—haystacks and farm structures set against dense foliage—where a solitary figure anchors the scene in lived experience. The motif is quintessentially Impressionist: an unembellished view of the modern, “seen” world, and a fleeting moment of real life recorded with speed and sensitivity. </div><br><br><div> </div><br><br><div>Pastel, with its directness and chromatic intensity, proved uniquely efficient for Impressionist artists seeking to capture transient light effects and faithful likenesses without the slower procedures of oil. Here, Pissarro exploits the medium’s strengths brilliantly. Soft, powdery passages dissolve edges into atmosphere, while firmer, painterly strokes build structure and texture across the hay, timber, and ground. The surface retains a remarkable freshness, with color that remains luminous and varied—cool blues and greens offset by warm straw, ochres, and sunlit highlights—allowing the viewer to experience the work’s original spontaneity. </div><br><br><div> </div><br><br><div>This work’s significance is underscored by its recent exhibition history: it was shown in 2020 at the J. Paul Getty Museum in<em> Powder and Light: Pastels in Late Nineteenth Century</em>, a focused exploration of how artists of the period embraced pastel as both experimental and modern. Beautifully preserved,<em> Paysage avec batteuse à Montfoucault </em>offers a direct encounter with Pissarro’s touch—each stroke visible, each tonal shift purposeful—capturing the countryside not as an ideal, but as a place of work, weather, and changing light. </div> <div>Camille Pissarro’s<em> Paysage avec batteuse à Montfoucault </em>(c. 1875) is an exceptionally vivid pastel that unites the artist’s keen observation of rural life with the Impressionists’ fascination for light, atmosphere, and immediacy. Executed at a moment when Pissarro was deeply engaged with agrarian subjects, the composition centers on a working landscape—haystacks and farm structures set against dense foliage—where a solitary figure anchors the scene in lived experience. The motif is quintessentially Impressionist: an unembellished view of the modern, “seen” world, and a fleeting moment of real life recorded with speed and sensitivity. </div><br><br><div> </div><br><br><div>Pastel, with its directness and chromatic intensity, proved uniquely efficient for Impressionist artists seeking to capture transient light effects and faithful likenesses without the slower procedures of oil. Here, Pissarro exploits the medium’s strengths brilliantly. Soft, powdery passages dissolve edges into atmosphere, while firmer, painterly strokes build structure and texture across the hay, timber, and ground. The surface retains a remarkable freshness, with color that remains luminous and varied—cool blues and greens offset by warm straw, ochres, and sunlit highlights—allowing the viewer to experience the work’s original spontaneity. </div><br><br><div> </div><br><br><div>This work’s significance is underscored by its recent exhibition history: it was shown in 2020 at the J. Paul Getty Museum in<em> Powder and Light: Pastels in Late Nineteenth Century</em>, a focused exploration of how artists of the period embraced pastel as both experimental and modern. Beautifully preserved,<em> Paysage avec batteuse à Montfoucault </em>offers a direct encounter with Pissarro’s touch—each stroke visible, each tonal shift purposeful—capturing the countryside not as an ideal, but as a place of work, weather, and changing light. </div> <div>Camille Pissarro’s<em> Paysage avec batteuse à Montfoucault </em>(c. 1875) is an exceptionally vivid pastel that unites the artist’s keen observation of rural life with the Impressionists’ fascination for light, atmosphere, and immediacy. Executed at a moment when Pissarro was deeply engaged with agrarian subjects, the composition centers on a working landscape—haystacks and farm structures set against dense foliage—where a solitary figure anchors the scene in lived experience. The motif is quintessentially Impressionist: an unembellished view of the modern, “seen” world, and a fleeting moment of real life recorded with speed and sensitivity. </div><br><br><div> </div><br><br><div>Pastel, with its directness and chromatic intensity, proved uniquely efficient for Impressionist artists seeking to capture transient light effects and faithful likenesses without the slower procedures of oil. Here, Pissarro exploits the medium’s strengths brilliantly. Soft, powdery passages dissolve edges into atmosphere, while firmer, painterly strokes build structure and texture across the hay, timber, and ground. The surface retains a remarkable freshness, with color that remains luminous and varied—cool blues and greens offset by warm straw, ochres, and sunlit highlights—allowing the viewer to experience the work’s original spontaneity. </div><br><br><div> </div><br><br><div>This work’s significance is underscored by its recent exhibition history: it was shown in 2020 at the J. Paul Getty Museum in<em> Powder and Light: Pastels in Late Nineteenth Century</em>, a focused exploration of how artists of the period embraced pastel as both experimental and modern. Beautifully preserved,<em> Paysage avec batteuse à Montfoucault </em>offers a direct encounter with Pissarro’s touch—each stroke visible, each tonal shift purposeful—capturing the countryside not as an ideal, but as a place of work, weather, and changing light. </div> <div>Camille Pissarro’s<em> Paysage avec batteuse à Montfoucault </em>(c. 1875) is an exceptionally vivid pastel that unites the artist’s keen observation of rural life with the Impressionists’ fascination for light, atmosphere, and immediacy. Executed at a moment when Pissarro was deeply engaged with agrarian subjects, the composition centers on a working landscape—haystacks and farm structures set against dense foliage—where a solitary figure anchors the scene in lived experience. The motif is quintessentially Impressionist: an unembellished view of the modern, “seen” world, and a fleeting moment of real life recorded with speed and sensitivity. </div><br><br><div> </div><br><br><div>Pastel, with its directness and chromatic intensity, proved uniquely efficient for Impressionist artists seeking to capture transient light effects and faithful likenesses without the slower procedures of oil. Here, Pissarro exploits the medium’s strengths brilliantly. Soft, powdery passages dissolve edges into atmosphere, while firmer, painterly strokes build structure and texture across the hay, timber, and ground. The surface retains a remarkable freshness, with color that remains luminous and varied—cool blues and greens offset by warm straw, ochres, and sunlit highlights—allowing the viewer to experience the work’s original spontaneity. </div><br><br><div> </div><br><br><div>This work’s significance is underscored by its recent exhibition history: it was shown in 2020 at the J. Paul Getty Museum in<em> Powder and Light: Pastels in Late Nineteenth Century</em>, a focused exploration of how artists of the period embraced pastel as both experimental and modern. Beautifully preserved,<em> Paysage avec batteuse à Montfoucault </em>offers a direct encounter with Pissarro’s touch—each stroke visible, each tonal shift purposeful—capturing the countryside not as an ideal, but as a place of work, weather, and changing light. </div> <div>Camille Pissarro’s<em> Paysage avec batteuse à Montfoucault </em>(c. 1875) is an exceptionally vivid pastel that unites the artist’s keen observation of rural life with the Impressionists’ fascination for light, atmosphere, and immediacy. Executed at a moment when Pissarro was deeply engaged with agrarian subjects, the composition centers on a working landscape—haystacks and farm structures set against dense foliage—where a solitary figure anchors the scene in lived experience. The motif is quintessentially Impressionist: an unembellished view of the modern, “seen” world, and a fleeting moment of real life recorded with speed and sensitivity. </div><br><br><div> </div><br><br><div>Pastel, with its directness and chromatic intensity, proved uniquely efficient for Impressionist artists seeking to capture transient light effects and faithful likenesses without the slower procedures of oil. Here, Pissarro exploits the medium’s strengths brilliantly. Soft, powdery passages dissolve edges into atmosphere, while firmer, painterly strokes build structure and texture across the hay, timber, and ground. The surface retains a remarkable freshness, with color that remains luminous and varied—cool blues and greens offset by warm straw, ochres, and sunlit highlights—allowing the viewer to experience the work’s original spontaneity. </div><br><br><div> </div><br><br><div>This work’s significance is underscored by its recent exhibition history: it was shown in 2020 at the J. Paul Getty Museum in<em> Powder and Light: Pastels in Late Nineteenth Century</em>, a focused exploration of how artists of the period embraced pastel as both experimental and modern. Beautifully preserved,<em> Paysage avec batteuse à Montfoucault </em>offers a direct encounter with Pissarro’s touch—each stroke visible, each tonal shift purposeful—capturing the countryside not as an ideal, but as a place of work, weather, and changing light. </div> <div>Camille Pissarro’s<em> Paysage avec batteuse à Montfoucault </em>(c. 1875) is an exceptionally vivid pastel that unites the artist’s keen observation of rural life with the Impressionists’ fascination for light, atmosphere, and immediacy. Executed at a moment when Pissarro was deeply engaged with agrarian subjects, the composition centers on a working landscape—haystacks and farm structures set against dense foliage—where a solitary figure anchors the scene in lived experience. The motif is quintessentially Impressionist: an unembellished view of the modern, “seen” world, and a fleeting moment of real life recorded with speed and sensitivity. </div><br><br><div> </div><br><br><div>Pastel, with its directness and chromatic intensity, proved uniquely efficient for Impressionist artists seeking to capture transient light effects and faithful likenesses without the slower procedures of oil. Here, Pissarro exploits the medium’s strengths brilliantly. Soft, powdery passages dissolve edges into atmosphere, while firmer, painterly strokes build structure and texture across the hay, timber, and ground. The surface retains a remarkable freshness, with color that remains luminous and varied—cool blues and greens offset by warm straw, ochres, and sunlit highlights—allowing the viewer to experience the work’s original spontaneity. </div><br><br><div> </div><br><br><div>This work’s significance is underscored by its recent exhibition history: it was shown in 2020 at the J. Paul Getty Museum in<em> Powder and Light: Pastels in Late Nineteenth Century</em>, a focused exploration of how artists of the period embraced pastel as both experimental and modern. Beautifully preserved,<em> Paysage avec batteuse à Montfoucault </em>offers a direct encounter with Pissarro’s touch—each stroke visible, each tonal shift purposeful—capturing the countryside not as an ideal, but as a place of work, weather, and changing light. </div>
Paysage avec batteuse a Montfoucaultc. 187510 3/8 x 14 3/4 in.(26.35 x 37.47 cm) pastel sur papier posé sur carton
Provenance
Vente anonyme, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 24 février 1936, lot 38.
Perls Galleries, New York
Acquis par l'ancien propriétaire, vers 1960
Christie's Live Auction 2218, 4 novembre 2009, lot 138
Collection privée, acquise lors de la vente ci-dessus
Exposition
New York, Perls Galleries, date inconnue, n° 84a
J. Paul Getty Museum, Degas : "Les danseuses russes" et l'art du pastel", 3 mai - 23 octobre 2016
J. Paul Getty Museum, "Les paysans au pastel : Jean-Francois Millet et le renouveau du pastel, 29 octobre 2019 - 10 mai 2020
J. Paul
...Plus.....Musée Getty, "Poudre et lumière : Les pastels à la fin du XIXe siècle", 28 juillet 2020-31 août 2022
Littérature
L.R. Pissarro et L. Venturi, Camille Pissarro, Son art-son œuvre, Paris, 1939, vol. I, p. 291, no. 1529 (illustré, vol. II pl. 294)
...MOINS.....
Le Paysage avec batteuse à Montfoucault (vers 1875) de Camille Pissarro est un pastel exceptionnellement vivant qui allie l'observation attentive de l'artiste sur la vie rurale à la fascination des impressionnistes pour la lumière, l'atmosphère et l'immédiateté. Réalisée à une époque où Pissarro s'intéressait beaucoup aux sujets agricoles, la composition est centrée sur un paysage de travail – des meules de foin et des bâtiments agricoles sur fond de feuillage dense – où une silhouette solitaire ancrent la scène dans l'expérience vécue. Le motif est typiquement impressionniste : une vue sans fioritures du monde moderne « tel qu'il est vu », et un instant fugace de la vie réelle capturé avec rapidité et sensibilité.


 


Le pastel, avec son caractère direct et son intensité chromatique, s'est révélé particulièrement efficace pour les artistes impressionnistes qui cherchaient à capturer les effets de lumière éphémères et à reproduire fidèlement les ressemblances sans passer par les procédures plus lentes de la peinture à l'huile. Ici, Pissarro exploite brillamment les atouts de ce médium. Des passages doux et poudrés dissolvent les contours dans l'atmosphère, tandis que des coups de pinceau plus fermes et picturaux construisent la structure et la texture du foin, du bois et du sol. La surface conserve une fraîcheur remarquable, avec des couleurs qui restent lumineuses et variées - des bleus et des verts froids compensés par des tons chauds de paille, d'ocre et des reflets ensoleillés - permettant au spectateur de ressentir la spontanéité originale de l'œuvre.


 


L'importance de cette œuvre est soulignée par son histoire récente en matière d'exposition : elle a été présentée en 2020 au J. Paul Getty Museum dans le cadre de l'exposition « Powder and Light: Pastels in Late Nineteenth Century », une exploration ciblée de la manière dont les artistes de l'époque ont adopté le pastel comme un moyen à la fois expérimental et moderne. Magnifiquement conservée, Paysage avec batteuse à Montfoucault offre une rencontre directe avec la touche de Pissarro, chaque coup de pinceau étant visible, chaque changement de tonalité étant intentionnel, capturant la campagne non pas comme un idéal, mais comme un lieu de travail, de conditions météorologiques et de lumière changeante.
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