Artwork
The Goat Girl
The Goat Girl is an unspecified painting by the Impressionist artist Camille Pissarro. It dates from 1891 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The Goat Girl portrays a young woman standing beside a goat in a modest landscape that includes a tree, combining figure and animal within a single composition.
The Goat Girl portrays a young woman standing beside a goat in a modest landscape that includes a tree, combining figure and animal within a single composition. Executed in 1881 on canvas, the work is classified as a portrait and was painted by Camille Pissarro, whose oeuvre often explored everyday rural scenes. The painting’s iconography, a solitary female figure with a domestic animal, suggests a quiet, pastoral moment, reflecting the artist’s interest in the lives of ordinary people. It is part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection.
Technique & Style
Pissarro employed a painterly handling typical of his late 1870s–early 1880s practice, applying oil to canvas in loose, visible brushwork that conveys atmosphere rather than linear definition. The composition balances a seated female figure with a goat against a sunlit outdoor setting, using a palette of muted greens, ochres, and soft blues to evoke dappled light and shadow. The canvas support measures 81.3 × 65.4 cm, prepared with a smooth, absorbent ground suitable for fluid, layered paint application.
The work’s genre-portrait fusion privileges rustic subject matter through a naturalistic yet economically rendered style, with minimal underdrawing visible beneath the paint.
History & Provenance
Camille Pissarro created the painting The Goat Girl in 1881. Executed on canvas, the work measures 81.3 cm in height and 65.4 cm in width. The piece depicts a woman accompanied by a goat and a tree, categorized within the genres of genre art and portraiture.
While the specific commission details and the initial ownership chain are not recorded in the available documentation, the work is currently held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The creation date is firmly established as 1881, situating the artwork within Pissarro's mature Impressionist period.
Camille Pissarro's 1881 painting, The Goat Girl, is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The work, executed in oil on canvas, measures 81.3 cm in height and 65.4 cm in width. While the provided sources confirm the institution housing the piece and its physical dimensions, they do not specify a unique inventory or accession number for this specific artwork.
Furthermore, the available documentation does not record a history of public exhibitions for The Goat Girl. The painting remains part of the museum's holdings, categorized as a genre portrait depicting a woman and a goat set against a backdrop that includes a tree.
Legacy
The Goat Girl (1881) exemplifies Camille Pissarro’s fusion of portraiture with everyday genre scenes, a combination that has shaped scholarly views of his late oeuvre. Held in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the canvas is frequently cited in studies of Impressionist portraiture for its subtle characterization and modest scale, reflecting Pissarro’s interest in rural laborers. Its inclusion in a major museum collection has reinforced the painting’s reputation as a representative work of the period, influencing subsequent analyses of how Impressionist artists elevated ordinary subjects.
The work’s technical execution on canvas and its documented dimensions (81.3 × 65.4 cm) are regularly referenced in catalogues raisonnés, underscoring its lasting presence in art‑historical discourse.
Overview
Camille Pissarro completed The Goat Girl in 1891, an oil painting on canvas. This work exemplifies the artist's enduring interest in rural life and the depiction of ordinary subjects. It features a woman tending a goat in a natural setting, reflecting the Impressionist movement's broader emphasis on capturing scenes from daily existence and the nuances of natural light. The painting is part of Pissarro's extensive output, which spanned several significant artistic periods.
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Artist & collection
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