Camille Pissarro (1830-1903)

Painted in 1893, Vue de ma fenêtre, inondation, effet de soir, Eragny is one of a group of pictures in which Pissarro recorded the flooding of the Epte from his room on the second floor of his home at Eragny. Many of the motifs contained within this landscape are those that feature in his most imspired works from the years he spent in Eragny. Indeed, in its inclusion of the walls of his garden, the apple tree and even the church in the distance, this picture serves as a form of key to his locality.

In this picture, the position of the artist is reflected in the fact that the landscape is viewed from above, raising the horizon and thereby filling most of the canvas with the details of the greenery, the trees and the garden, filled with water. The composition comprises a group of almost formal areas, with the bars of the walls forming strong horizontals and diagonals. Meanwhile, the brushwork, with flecks of different colours being used to depict the various effects, for instance the lilacs and light yellows that have been used to give such weight to the sky, or the flickers of green and blue within the roof to the lower left, reveal the importance of Divisionism and Neo-Impressionism during this time, the latter movement being one with which Pissarro became an adopted elder statesman. Yet there is a freshness to the application of the paint which speaks of his Impressionist origins, as does his fascination with this scene. Indeed, the freer brushwork is made all the more clear by comparison with an earlier view from his window, painted in 1886, which was created in a Pointillist manner.

Vue de ma fenêtre, inondation, effet de soir, Eragny featured in Pissarro's important second one-man exhibition at Durand-Ruel's gallery later in 1893. The exhibition was a success, with a good amount of supportive criticism; it was all the more impressive as most of the works were purchased by his dealer, resulting in a windfall. Pissarro's success during this period allowed him to purchase his home at Eragny, a move which comforted his wife greatly, as she was very fond of the peace, and she needed stability after the very peripatetic early years of their marriage. It also allowed the artist to create a new studio in the grounds, a process that resulted in the demolition of the wall shown to the lower left, later in the same year.