The artwork “Quarries at Pontoise II,” created by Paul Gauguin in 1882, reflects the quintessential characteristics of the Impressionism movement. Employing oil on canvas as his medium, Gauguin captures a landscape scene with his distinctively vigorous and expressive brushwork. This piece forms part of the Impressionist genre, which emphasizes the depiction of light and its changing qualities, ordinary subject matter, open composition, and inclusion of movement as a crucial element of human perception and experience. The artwork is currently housed within the reputable collection of the National Gallery of Canada, located in Ottawa, Canada.
In “Quarries at Pontoise II,” the observer is presented with a countryside landscape marked by the presence of a quarry. The composition features rolling greenery and a gently winding path that leads the eye towards the excavated area on the right-hand side. The play of light and shadow is evident across the scene, as patches of sunlight dapple both the landscape and the exposed limestone, emphasizing the textural qualities of nature and stone. The sky, a canvas of blue interspersed with soft white clouds, conveys a sense of tranquility and the fleeting nature of a moment caught in time. The speckles of green foliage, nestled against the ruggedness of the quarry, provide a contrast of vitality against the inert stone. Gauguin’s brushstrokes are loose and impulsive, capturing the essence of the scene with a poignant immediacy that invites contemplation and an appreciation for the harmony between nature and human interaction.
