Pissarro, Camille (1830-1903)
Boulevard des Italiens, matin, effet de soleil (Boulevard des Italiens, Morning, Sunlight)
1897
Oil on canvas, 73.2 x 92.1 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington
We look down onto a wide, bustling, tree-lined avenue filled with buildings, people, and horse-drawn carriages in this horizontal painting. Muted, warm browns, sage green, slate blue, and brick red dominate the urban scene, which is loosely painted with short and long dotted brushstrokes so some details are difficult to make out. The street extends diagonally up from our lower left with wide gray sidewalks on either side, which are lined by slender trees sparsely dotted with brown leaves. Dozens of pedestrians meander individually, in pairs, and in small groups on the sidewalks in coats and hats. Across from us, multi-storied buildings with store fronts at street level stretch across the width of the canvas. Rows of windows line the facades. Horse-drawn carriages move in both directions on the street and two omnibuses have pulled to the curb closest to us, where passengers have lined up. Two brick-red, hexagonally shaped kiosks stand opposite each other on either side of the street about halfway along the boulevard. Sunlight filters onto the scene, creating a dappled effect in some areas, especially over to our right. The artist signed and dated the painting in dark green in the lower right corner: “C.Pissarro.97.”
Hoping people would buy cityscapes of Paris, Pissarro set himself up in a series of apartments to paint views of the capital. We look down on a grand boulevard made when Paris was transformed by the urban renewal project of the 1850s and 1860s. The street is lined by now fully grown trees and buildings designed for maximum density. It is filled with kiosks (“street furniture,” as they were called), horse-drawn carriages, and commuter omnibuses. People crowd the sidewalks. Pissarro captures the energy and bustling traffic of Paris as the capital of the modern world. (NGA)
See also:
• Boulevard des Italiens | Paris (France) | Streets | Streets (Paris)