CamillePissarromight very well be called the “elder statesman” of the Impressionist group. A man of great dignity and restraint, he won the admiration of his fellow artists who listened to his learned and articulate exposition of art theories when they gathered nightly at he favoured Paris cafes. Mary Cassatt, a disciple, once commented that Camille was so great a teacher “that he could have taught stones to draw correctly.”

ForPissarrothe countryside was a constant source of inspiration. The homely, rustic scene here, bathed in cool, blue-green light, is executed with the minute colour dots, or “pointillism,” of his later technique. It reveals the same serenity and love of nature that are reflected in his beautiful letters to his son Lucien.