Pissarro, Camille (1830-1903)
Le Marché aux poissons, Dieppe, temps gris, matin (The Fish Market, Dieppe: Grey Weather, Morning)
1902
Oil on canvas, 65.41 × 80.96 cm
Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas
Starting in the 1890s, Pissarro turned increasingly toward the depiction of cityscapes and commercial harbors, such as Dieppe. Working from the third-floor room he rented there in 1902, he captured the bustling port city in a series of 21 canvases, an idea undoubtedly inspired by his friend Claude Monet. This painting purportedly features Dieppe’s fish market, but rather than depict the vendors’ stalls, Pissarro delighted in recording the mass of people inspecting the day’s catch or watching the maritime traffic. Although the artist observed the scene from life, he made it more picturesque by eliminating the utility poles and wires that proclaimed Dieppe’s status as a modern city. (DMA)