Camille Pissarro painted this view of the French countryside at the dawn of the Impressionist era. Its gentle, silver luminosity and vast expanse of sky reflect the controversial new movement's commitment to recording the fleeting effects of light and atmosphere-what Pissarro called his sensations of nature. Like his fellow artists Claude Monet and Pierre Renoir, Pissarro worked outdoors to transcribe his perceptions more directly. He replaced the earth tones typical of his earlier paintings with the brighter colors that prevail in this landscape. Working rapidly to capture the passing moment, Pissarro brushed this canvas with broad, loose strokes, while maintaining the structure that characterizes his compositions. He links road, river, and riverbanks in parallel bands and anchors the horizon line with the verticals of the smokestack and trees to build a subtle framework for the scene.
Like many French artists, Pissarro fled to London during the Franco-Prussian War. He returned to France in 1871, settling the following year in the market town of Pontoise, on the Oise River in Normandy, about twenty-five miles northwest of Paris. A savvy, politically engaged artist, Pissarro was alert to the changes around him. In this composition from the period of his most purely Impressionist works, he included a newly built factory, a barge, and a puffing locomotive, clear signs of the industrial revolution that was transforming the face of rural France.
A fine picture by this artist is the act of an honest man. I cannot better define his talent.
-Author Emile Zola, 1868
