The artwork titled “Banks of the river Marne in winter” by Camille Pissarro was completed in 1866. As a product of the Realism movement, this landscape genre painting was rendered in oil on canvas and measures 91.8 cm by 150.2 cm. It counts among the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
The composition portrays a subdued, wintry environment along the banks of the Marne River. Dominating the scene are expansive, leaden skies filled with voluminous clouds that convey a sense of the changing weather, typical of Pissarro’s attentiveness to the nuances of light and atmosphere. Below this dramatic sky, the landscape reveals a series of gently sloping hills, with sparse vegetation and bare trees indicative of the season. On the banks, modest structures emerge, their white facades and dark roofs standing in contrast to the darkening landscape. In the foreground, a row of slender, leafless trees lines a pathway, drawing the eye into the scene where a figure, likely a local resident, can be spotted walking along the path, adding a human element to the natural setting. Pissarro’s brushwork and control of muted winter tones culminate in a piece that is both a disciplined observation of rural life and a sensitive portrayal of the season’s quietude.
