“The Port of Le Havre 2” is an oil on canvas painting by the esteemed artist Camille Pissarro, created in 1903. As a notable work within the Impressionism movement, the artwork spans 54.6 x 65.1 cm and represents a cityscape genre. It currently resides within a private collection. This particular painting captures the lively essence and atmosphere of the port city of Le Havre with a vibrant and fluid technique that is characteristic of Pissarro’s late work.
In the artwork, Pissarro presents a bustling scene of Le Havre, a significant port in France. The foreground displays the harbour activity with moored ships, and small figures are discernible along the docks, providing a sense of scale and movement. Prominent are various masts that rise vertically, intersecting with the horizontal lines of the waterfront and the industrial landscape beyond, adding a geometric structure to the composition. The sky is painted with sweeping, textured strokes, suggesting a dynamic and changing weather, a common theme in Pissarro’s skies that serves to evoke the transient light and colour so cherished by the Impressionists. The use of colour and light to depict the effects of industrial smoke and the maritime environment reflects a fundamental aspect of Impressionism: capturing the momentary sensory effects of a scene rather than its detailed linearity.
