Artwork
Landscape at Les Pâtis, Pontoise
Landscape at Les Pâtis, Pontoise is an oil painting by the Impressionist artist Camille Pissarro. It dates from 1868 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
- Inscription
- Inscribed:lower right: C.Pissarro.68
About this work
White farm buildings with red-tile roofs stand among rolling green fields at Les Pâtis, on the outskirts of Pontoise, where Camille Pissarro lived from 1866.
White farm buildings with red-tile roofs stand among rolling green fields at Les Pâtis, on the outskirts of Pontoise, where Camille Pissarro lived from 1866. Signed and dated "C.Pissarro.68" at lower right, the canvas captures the Oise valley as he moved beyond Barbizon tonality toward the brighter palette of Impressionism. It entered the National Gallery of Art in 1991 as a gift from David Rockefeller.
Technique & Style
Executed in oil on canvas, the painting measures 81 by 100 cm. The landscape features a man on a path, houses, fields, a hill, and trees, typical of Pissarro’s rural scenes around Pontoise from 1868. The medium and support are standard for the artist’s work of this period, but no details on brushwork, palette, or condition are provided in the sources.
History & Provenance
The painting was executed in 1868. Its provenance begins with the artist’s daughter Jeanne Pissarro-Bonin in Paris. It subsequently passed through the Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, and was sold on 8 October 1919 to Mancini.
By about 1924 it belonged to Emile Lernoud in Buenos Aires, and by 1932 it was in the collection of Dr. Carlos Zubizarreta. Wildenstein & Co., New York, acquired the work in 1954, and it was purchased by Mr. and Mrs. David Rockefeller in February 1955. The painting was given as a partial and promised gift to the National Gallery of Art in 1991.
The painting belongs to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., acquired as a partial and promised gift from Mr. and Mrs. David Rockefeller in 1991. Its known exhibition history includes a 1932 showing in Buenos Aires, where it was lent by the previous owner, Dr. Carlos Zubizarreta. The work lacks a publicly listed accession number in the sources.
Overview
Camille Pissarro created this oil on canvas, "Landscape at Les Pâtis, Pontoise," in 1868. Measuring 81 by 100 centimeters, the painting captures a rural scene near the town where the artist resided. It depicts white farm structures with red roofs nestled among rolling green fields.
This work represents a significant moment in Pissarro's career, as he began to move away from established artistic conventions towards a more innovative approach to color and light.
Subject & Meaning
The painting portrays a tranquil rural vista at Les Pâtis, a locale on the periphery of Pontoise, a town northwest of Paris where Pissarro had settled. The composition features a cluster of modest white buildings topped with red-tiled roofs, enveloped by a mosaic of verdant agricultural fields. These elements are set against a backdrop of gently undulating terrain, reflecting Pissarro's engagement with the everyday landscapes of the French countryside.
Own this work as a print
Artist & collection
