{"product_id":"return-to-the-village-by-moonlight-by-camille-pissarro","title":"Return to the Village by Moonlight by Camille Pissarro","description":"Camille Pissarro\u003cbr\u003e 1830-1903 | French \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cem\u003eLe Retour au village au clair de lune (Éragny)\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e (\u003cem\u003eReturn to the Village by Moonlight (Éragny)\u003c\/em\u003e) \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Signed and dated \"Camille Pissarro 86\" (lower left)\u003cbr\u003e Gouache and watercolor on silk laid down on paper \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Among Camille Pissarro’s most unique artworks, this magnificent fan painting transforms a decorative object into a luminous Impressionist landscape. Displaying one of his iconic rural scenes under moonlight, this rare masterpiece offers one of the most singular and delightful ways of experiencing Pissarro’s celebrated vision. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Inspired by Japanese art and encouraged by Edgar Degas, Pissarro began experimenting with fans in the late 1870s, exhibiting 12 examples at the 1879 Impressionist exhibition alongside his paintings. What was once a decorative object became, in Pissarro’s hands, a highly inventive work of art. Other artists such as Gauguin and later Bonnard explored the fan format, but Pissarro perhaps embraced it most fully, helping transform the fan into one of the era’s most elegant experiments in modern composition. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In this example, the sweeping crescent shape of the fan offered Pissarro a compositional challenge unlike the traditional canvas, allowing him to unfold the scene in a panoramic arc. Under the luminous haze of a moonlit night, Pissarro’s figures move along a bucolic village path. The result is intimate yet expansive, offering Pissarro a place to reimagine the countryside he loved.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Fewer than 100 fans by modern artists of this period are believed to exist, making each surviving example exceptionally rare. Comparable examples by Pissarro have gone for impressive sums at auction and now reside in leading museum collections worldwide, including the Musée d’Orsay, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Van Gogh Museum and the Brooklyn Museum. The importance of these works continues to receive institutional attention today, with the Musée d’Orsay showcasing an exhibition of 17 Impressionist fans this year.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Known as the \"Father of Impressionism,\" Camille Pissarro was the only painter to exhibit in all eight of the Impressionist exhibitions. His revolutionary approach to painting and thought-provoking compositions had a profound effect on his contemporaries and the future of modern art, and his works can be found in many of the most important museums and private collections throughout the world.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e This work will be included in the forthcoming Camille Pissarro Digital Catalogue Raisonné, currently being prepared under the sponsorship of the Wildenstein Plattner Institute. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Dated 1886 \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Paper: 17\" high x 29\" wide (43.2 x 73.7 cm)\u003cbr\u003e Frame: 23\" high x 32 3\/4\" wide x 2\" deep (58.4 x 88.3 x 5.1 cm) \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Provenance:\u003cbr\u003e Madame de Kerrieu Collection, Paris\u003cbr\u003e Her sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, February 8-9, 1898, lot 88\u003cbr\u003e Galerie Durand-Ruel et Cie., Paris (acquired at the above sale)\u003cbr\u003e Jean \u0026amp; Marie-Louis d'Alayer (née Durand-Ruel) Collection, Paris (transferred from the above in 1940)\u003cbr\u003e Sale: Hôtel Drouot, Paris, December 19, 1955, lot 22\u003cbr\u003e Sale: Drouot Rive Gauche, Paris, June 18, 1976, lot 108\u003cbr\u003e Sale: Drouot-Richelieu, Paris, May 14, 1997, lot 32\u003cbr\u003e Galerie Charles \u0026amp; André Bailly, Paris (likely acquired at the above sale)\u003cbr\u003e Private collection, acquired from the above in August 1997\u003cbr\u003e M.S. Rau, New Orleans \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Literature:\u003cbr\u003e L.-R. Pissarro \u0026amp; L. Venturi, Camille Pissarro, son art – son oeuvre, Vol. I, Paris, 1939, no. 1635 (Vol. II, illustrated pl. 309)\u003cbr\u003e M-J. Pellé, Les Éventails de Camille Pissarro, Paris, 1990, no. 27 (illustrated p. 27; titled 'Le Départ du village, Eragny' and 'Le Chemin de l'atelier')\u003cbr\u003e M-J. Pellé, \"Vert Pissarro...\" Impressions de Normandie et d'ailleurs, Luneray, 2000, no. 8 (illustrated p. 72)\u003cbr\u003e J. Pissarro \u0026amp; C. Durand-Ruel Snollaerts, Pissarro, Critical Catalogue of Paintings, Vol. I, Paris, 2005, p. 281 (titled 'The Path to the Studio')","brand":"M.S. Rau","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45024806895751,"sku":"32-2734","price":368500.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0083\/2471\/0466\/files\/32-2734_1.png?v=1782516031","url":"https:\/\/rauantiques.com\/products\/return-to-the-village-by-moonlight-by-camille-pissarro","provider":"M.S. Rau","version":"1.0","type":"link"}