This painting is exquisite.
It has a daydream-like quality and filled with the beauty and peacefulness of the countryside.
It is by the impressionist painter Camille Pissarro. I saw it in D’Orsay.
It was painted later in his life when he settled in the village north of Paris, Eragny.
Pissarro’s brushstrokes are magical. His technique of “broken colour” entails small strokes of different blotches side-by-side as opposed to being mixed on the palette. It’s clearly influenced by Seurat’s pointillism (whom he met in 1885). The sense of warmth is captured in the yellows and oranges bouncing of the surfaces (especially the green grassland). Even the bluey shadows seem to further the shimmering sunshine as a wonderful contrast.
The solitary charming lady - holding her basket - almost melts into the atmosphere of sunshine. She is beautiful because she is connected to the nature itself. She is warmth and peace too.
I think the evocation of sunshine and spring make for a moving uplifting painting.
It is indeed lovely. A very painstaking way to paint.
ReplyDeletePissarro liked to paint people, particularly peasants working on the land. It is a very splendid painting and he was, as you say, fascinated by Seurat and the dots. I studied this painting a few years ago.
ReplyDeleteThe "broken colour" really gets me. I like the refreshing vibe from the painting too
ReplyDeleteI like it and it's a different way to paint, the shadows are good..no detail is left unturned.
ReplyDeleteI know artists specifically choose painting methods that promote their own visions of the world. But I saw Picasso on TV last week and cannot make even the vaguest connection with Pissarro. They both worked largely in France, but Pissarro seems to draw the viewer in, while Picasso may be repelling his viewer.
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