“The Harvest at Montfoucault 2” is an oil on canvas genre painting by Camille Pissarro, completed in 1876 and currently held in a private collection. Pissarro, a key figure in the Impressionist movement, depicted a rustic scene infused with the plein air quality and spontaneous brushwork characteristic of Impressionism.
The artwork shows a rural landscape during the harvest season where laborers are engaging with the land. In the foreground, a worker can be seen raking hay near a large haystack, echoing the labor-intensive nature of the harvest. Further back, figures involved in harvesting activities are scattered throughout the field, with a group congregated around a horse-drawn cart loaded with harvested material, likely hay. The figure in white near the cart appears to be arranging or binding the hay, and others stand nearby, perhaps waiting their turn to contribute.
The sky is expansive and filled with gentle, soft brushstrokes that provide a sense of movement, as the cumulus clouds drift across it. Trees frame the scene on both sides, and more foliage lines the rolling hills that serve as a backdrop, suggesting a symbiosis between nature and human activity. The painting captures a moment in time with an emphasis on the transient effects of light and color, which underscores the Impressionist aim to represent scenes of modern life with immediacy and tactile sense of atmosphere.
