In 1880, Camille Pissarro painted “Le Valhermeil, Near Pontoise,” showcasing his adoption of smaller brushstrokes and a more pointillist style. This landscape painting depicts the leaves starting to shimmer against the sky. Pissarro was an Impressionist painter from the island of St. Thomas who produced nearly 100 snow paintings, one exploring an extraordinarily severe winter in 1879.
During the 1882 Impressionist exhibition, Pissarro submitted several figure paintings that indicate a shift in his artistic focus. He also acted as both student and mentor to Neo-Impressionists in the 1880s. The style seen in “Le Valhermeil” is reminiscent of those movements and demonstrates how he incorporated techniques from other artists into his own work.
Overall, “Le Valhermeil” provides a vivid example of Pissarro’s evolving artistic style and how it was influenced by his contemporaries. With its shimmering leaves and delicate brushwork, this landscape painting captures a fleeting moment in time with stunning detail that endures to this day.