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Pontoise, the Road to Gisors in Winter
Camille Pissarro (French (born in the Danish West Indies), 1830–1903)
1873
Medium/Technique
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
59.7 x 73.7 cm (23 1/2 x 29 in.)
Credit Line
Bequest of John T. Spaulding
Accession Number48.587
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsPaintings
France experienced unusually harsh winters and heavy snowfall in the early 1870s. This street scene of Pontoise, the small town northwest of Paris where Pissarro lived from 1872 to 1882, shows residents sweeping up a light dusting of snow beneath a lowering sky that promises more. Pissarro evokes cobblestones and shingled roofs with short, broad strokes of juxtaposed, unblended color.
InscriptionsLower right: C. Pissarro 1873
Provenance1925, Durand-Ruel, Paris and New York (stock no. 2079); February 7, 1925, sold by Durand-Ruel to John Taylor Spaulding (b. 1870 - d. 1948), Boston; 1948, bequest of John Taylor Spaulding to the MFA. (Accession Date: June 3, 1948)