Swann Galleries - Camille Pissarro: Impressionist Icon - Sale 2429: Part II, November 3, 2016

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CAMILLE PISSARRO

Chemin sous bois à Pontoise

Aquatint and etching printed in black on cream laid

paper, 1879. 160x212 mm; 6

inches, full

margins. Fifth state (of 6). One of approximately only

4 or 5 impressions in this state, from a total of

approximately only 20 lifetime impressions in all six

states combined. Inscribed “5e état” in pencil, lower

left. Ex-collection Henri M. Petiet, Paris, with his ink

stamp verso (see Lugt 2021a). A brilliant, proof-like

impression of this extremely scarce Impressionist

print, with all the fine details distinct, with crisp plate

edges and with inky fingerprints in the margin.

La Masure

(see following lot) this is one of

Pissarro’s more experimental Impressionist etchings,

produced during a span of intense creativity while

working with Degas. According to Shapiro, “During

this period of his close association with Degas,

Pissarro’s prints were a combination of etching processes.

Along with soft-ground, aquatint, drypoint and simple

etched lines, he also incorporated acid accidents and

printing imperfections into the design of the print.

The variety of techniques is so individualistic and

unconventional that it is difficult to analyze the order

of procedures . . . The prints of these brief years are

triumphs of printmaking, chracterized by shimmering

surfaces that show varying degress of light, yet the

unusual and seemingly spontaneous effects were the

result of complex

the workshop environ-

ment that Degas created gradually dissolved, Pissarro was

less inclined to execute his plates in such a painstaking

became more interested in employing a broader

range of technical means.” Delteil 19.

[10,000/15,000]