The pictures that Pissarro painted in the late 1860s at Pontoise, a small village near Paris, are among his most important early works. These views of lanes, farm buildings, hillsides, and fields are firmly structured in composition and are characterized by strong brushstrokes and broad, flat areas of color that owe much to the work of Courbet and Corot, whose paintings were then on view in large exhibitions in Paris.

Pissarro exhibited "Jalais Hill, Pontoise" and another landscape at the Salon of 1868. Émile Zola praised them, saying of "Jalais Hill": "There is the modern countryside. One feels that man has passed by, turning and cutting the earth. . . . From ordinary reality the painter's temperament has produced a rare poem

of life and strength."

Pissarro included "Jalais Hill, Pontoise" in the sixth Impressionist exhibition, in 1881.

Inscription: Signed and dated (lower right): C. Pissarro / 1867

the artist, Paris (1867–d. 1903); his widow, Mme Camille (Julie Vellay) Pissarro, Paris (from 1904); their son, Paul-Émile Pissarro, Lyons-la-Forêt, France (sold for Fr 100,000 to Heinemann); [Heinemann Gallery, New York, by 1927–29; stock no. 18381, sold on January 15, 1929, for $7,500, to Holston]; [William H. Holston Gallery, New York, 1929; sold to Osborn]; William Church Osborn, New York (1929–51)

Paris. Salon. May 1–June 20, 1868, no. 2015 (as "La côte de Jallais").

Le Havre. location unknown. "Exposition maritime internationale," July 2–November 15, 1868, no. 794 (possibly this picture) [see Ref. Snollaerts 2005].

Paris. Galerie Manzi, Joyant. "Exposition rétrospective d'œuvres de Camille Pissarro (1830–1903)," January 26–February 14, 1914, no. 5 (as "La Côte du Jalet: Pontoise").

City Art Museum of Saint Louis. "French Impressionists from 1860–1880," April 17–May 16, 1934, no catalogue?

Art Institute of Chicago. "A Century of Progress," June 1–November 1, 1934, no. 260 (as "View at Pontoise," lent by William Church Osborn).

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "French Painting from David to Toulouse-Lautrec," February 6–March 26, 1941, no. 96 (as "View at Pontoise—La côte du Jallais," lent by William Church Osborn).

New York. Wildenstein. "Camille Pissarro: His Place in Art," October 24–November 24, 1945, no. 2 (lent by William Church Osborn).

Toledo Museum of Art. "The Spirit of Modern France: An Essay on Painting in Society, 1745–1946," November–December 1946, no. 46 (lent by William Church Osborn).

Art Gallery of Toronto. "The Spirit of Modern France: An Essay on Painting in Society, 1745–1946," January–February 1947, no. 46 (lent by William Church Osborn).

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Masterpieces of Fifty Centuries," November 15, 1970–February 15, 1971, no. 372 (as "Jallais Hill, Pontoise [La côte du Jallais, Pontoise]").

Paris. Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais. "Centenaire de l'impressionnisme," September 21–November 24, 1974, no. 33.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Impressionism: A Centenary Exhibition," December 12, 1974–February 10, 1975, no. 33.

London. Hayward Gallery. "Pissarro," October 30, 1980–January 11, 1981, no. 9.

Paris. Grand Palais. "Pissarro," January 30–April 27, 1981, no. 9.

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. "Pissarro," May 19–August 9, 1981, no. 9.

Leningrad [St. Petersburg]. State Hermitage Museum. "From Delacroix to Matisse," March 15–May 10, 1988, no. 24.

Moscow. Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts. "From Delacroix to Matisse," June 10–July 30, 1988, no. 24.

Paris. Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais. "Impressionnisme: Les origines, 1859–1869," April 19–August 8, 1994, no. 158.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Origins of Impressionism," September 27, 1994–January 8, 1995, no. 158.

New York. Jewish Museum. "Camille Pissarro: Impressionist Innovator," February 26–July 30, 1995, not in catalogue [according to loan papers this painting was exhibited from June 20–July 31, 1995].

Staatsgalerie Stuttgart. "Camille Pissarro," December 11, 1999–May 1, 2000, no. 6.

New York. Jewish Museum. "The Emergence of Jewish Artists in Nineteenth-Century Europe," November 18, 2001–March 17, 2002, no. 62.

New York. Museum of Modern Art. "Pioneering Modern Painting: Cézanne & Pissarro 1865–1885," June 26–September 12, 2005, no. 90.

Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "Pioneering Modern Painting: Cézanne & Pissarro 1865–1885," October 20, 2005–January 16, 2006, no. 90.

Paris. Musée d'Orsay. "Pioneering Modern Painting: Cézanne & Pissarro 1865–1885," February 27–May 28, 2006, no. 90.

Baltimore Museum of Art. "Pissarro: Creating the Impressionist Landscape," February 11–May 13, 2007, no. 10 (as "Côte des Jalais, Pontoise 'Jallais Hill, Pontoise'").

Milwaukee Art Museum. "Pissarro: Creating the Impressionist Landscape," June 10–September 9, 2007, no. 10 (as "Côte des Jalais, Pontoise 'Jallais Hill, Pontoise'").

Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. "Pissarro: Creating the Impressionist Landscape," October 7, 2007–January 6, 2008, no. 10 (as "Côte des Jalais, Pontoise 'Jallais Hill, Pontoise'").

Léon Billot. "Exposition des Beaux-arts, paysage et animaux." Journal du Havre (September 25, 1868) [possibly this picture; see Ref. Snollaerts 2005].

[Jules] Castagnary. "Salon de 1868 (6e article)." Le Siècle (May 29, 1868), p. 1, notes that it attracted attention at the Salon, though it was hung too high.

Odilon Redon. "Salon de 1868." La Gironde (June 9, 1868) [reprinted in Robert Coustet, "Critiques d'art, Salon de 1868," Bordeaux, p. 57, ill.].

Émile Zola. "Les naturalistes." L'événement illustré (May 19, 1868) [reprinted in Jean-Paul Bouillon, "Emile Zola, le bon combat: De Courbet aux impressionnistes," Paris, 1974, p. 109].

Georges Rivière. "L'Exposition des impressionnistes." L'Impressionniste no. 2 (April 14, 1877) [reprinted in Barbara Ehrlich White, "Impressionism in Perspective," Englewood Cliffs, 1978, p. 11, fig. 5], discusses the two women in the bend in the road.

Roger Allard. "Les Arts plastiques." Les Écrits français 2 (March 5, 1914), p. 65.

Maurice Hamel. "Camille Pissarro: Exposition rétrospective de ses œuvres." Les Arts no. 147 (March 1914), p. 26, mentions that it was in the 1914 Galerie Manzi-Joyant show.

Art News 26 (October 22, 1927), ill. p. 10.

Art News 27 (March 9, 1929), p. 26, ill., notes that this is a rare early large work of the artist and that it was sold to a New York collector [Osborn] by the William H. Holston Gallery.

Charles Kunstler. Camille Pissarro. Paris, 1930, fig. 1.

Ludovic R. Pissarro. Letter to William Church Osborn. December 31, 1930, states that the correct title is "La côte du Jalet Pontoise".

Ludovic Rodo Pissarro and Lionello Venturi. Camille Pissarro, son art—son œuvre. reprint ed. 1989. Paris, 1939, vol. 1, pp. 20, 85, no. 55; vol. 2, pl. 10, no. 55.

Lionello Venturi. Impressionists and Symbolists. 2, New York, 1950, pp. 69–70, fig. 63, mentions that it is the "work of an experienced painter who is considerably more traditional than Monet"; remarks that the volume of the hill is inspired by Courbet and the wall surfaces of the houses are painted in the manner of Corot.

Jean Leymarie. Impressionism. Lausanne, 1955, pp. 68, 71, 73, ill.

Charles Theodore Price. "Naturalism and Convention in the Painting of Charles-François Daubigny." PhD diss., Yale University, 1967, pp. 207, 209, discusses the similarities and differences between this composition and Daubigny's "Landscape near Pontoise" (Kunsthalle, Bremen).

Charles Sterling and Margaretta M. Salinger. "XIX–XX Centuries." French Paintings: A Catalogue of the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 3, New York, 1967, pp. 15–16, ill., remark that this is the chief work of Pissarro's earliest, pre-Impressionist style; mention the influence of Manet, Corot, and Courbet.

Kermit Swiler Champa. Studies in Early Impressionism. New Haven, 1973, pp. 75–77, fig. 107, discusses the four paintings of the Hermitage at Pontoise, 1867–68, as a true series (P&V nos. 55–58); remarks that the MMA work recalls Courbet and Daubigny, but differs in brushwork and tonality.

Everett Fahy in "Paintings, Drawings." The Wrightsman Collection. 5, [New York], 1973, p. 150, notes a resemblance to Corot's early Roman style in the use of "strong color, solid brush strokes, and cubic forms".

Alfred Werner. "Camille Pissarro: Humble and Colossal." American Artist 37 (July 1973), pp. 22–23, ill. (color).

Charles S. Moffett in Impressionism: A Centenary Exhibition. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1974, pp. 171–75, no. 33, ill. (color, overall and detail) [French ed., "Centenaire de l'impressionnisme," Paris, 1974], notes that although it is a pre-Impressionist work, it has many Impressionist characteristics, including the clear light that does not reveal much precise detail, the faceless figures on the road, and the broad treatment of the grasses.

Ralph E. Shikes and Paula Harper. Pissarro: His Life and Work. New York, 1980, pp. 66, 73, 75, 78, ill. (color), note that when this painting was exhibited in the Salon of 1868, it received critical praise from Castagnary, Astruc, Zola, Jean Ravenal, and Odilon Redon.

Anne Schirrmeister. Camille Pissarro. New York, 1982, pp. 7–8, 11, colorpl. 2, remarks that the two women are wearing fashionable, possibly Parisian, dresses, indicating that they are the wives or daughters of Pontoise's industrialists or merchants.

Prof. Chuji Ikegami in Retrospective Camille Pissarro. Exh. cat., Isetan Museum of Art. [Tokyo], 1984, pp. 20–21.

Christopher Lloyd in Retrospective Camille Pissarro. Exh. cat., Isetan Museum of Art. [Tokyo], 1984, pp. 128, 131, 134, 141, under nos. 12, 24, 39, 69.

Gary Tinterow et al. "Modern Europe." The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 8, New York, 1987, pp. 8, 44, colorpl. 26.

Richard R. Brettell, with Joachim Pissarro. Pissarro and Pontoise: The Painter in a Landscape. New Haven, 1990, pp. 105, 122, 126, 137–38, colorpls. 95, 116 (overall and detail).

Peter Galassi. Corot in Italy: Open-Air Painting and the Classical-Landscape Tradition. New Haven, 1991, p. 214, fig. 270, compares it to Corot's "Volterra, View Toward the Fortress" of 1834 (Musée du Louvre, Paris).

Christopher Lloyd in Alfred Sisley. Exh. cat., Royal Academy of Arts, London. New Haven, 1992, p. 160 [French ed., "Sisley," Paris, 1992, p. 168], relates the composition to Sisley's "The Watering Place at Marly-le-Roi" (private collection, Switzerland).

Christopher Lloyd in The Dictionary of Art. 24, New York, 1996, p. 879.

Dianne W. Pitman. Bazille: Purity, Pose, and Painting in the 1860s. University Park, 1998, p. 122, fig. 74, notes its influence on Bazille's "View of the Village" of 1868 (Musée Fabre, Montpellier).

Alexia de Buffévent in Joachim Pissarro and Claire Durand-Ruel Snollaerts. Pissarro: Critical Catalogue of Paintings. Milan, 2005, vol. 1, pp. 124–25.

Joachim Pissarro in Joachim Pissarro and Claire Durand-Ruel Snollaerts. Pissarro: Critical Catalogue of Paintings. Milan, 2005, vol. 1, pp. 64–65, 74, ill. (color detail).

Joachim Pissarro. Pioneering Modern Painting: Cézanne & Pissarro 1865–1885. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, 2005, pp. 59, 187, colorpl. 90.

Claire Durand-Ruel Snollaerts in Joachim Pissarro and Claire Durand-Ruel Snollaerts. Pissarro: Critical Catalogue of Paintings. Milan, 2005, vol. 1, pp. 361, 370, 378, 383–85, 399, 402, 406, 411, 417, 422–23, 425; vol. 2, pp. 108–9, no. 116, ill. (color); vol. 3, pp. 953, 956.

Gülru Çakmak in Katherine Rothkopf. Pissarro: Creating the Impressionist Landscape. Exh. cat., Baltimore Museum of Art. London, 2006, pp. 180, 203.

Charlotte Eyerman in Mary Morton and Charlotte Eyerman. Courbet and the Modern Landscape. Exh. cat., J. Paul Getty Museum. Los Angeles, 2006, p. 29.

Dominique de Font-Réaulx in Mary Morton and Charlotte Eyerman. Courbet and the Modern Landscape. Exh. cat., J. Paul Getty Museum. Los Angeles, 2006, p. 55, fig. 33 (color).

Christopher Lloyd in Katherine Rothkopf. Pissarro: Creating the Impressionist Landscape. Exh. cat., Baltimore Museum of Art. London, 2006, p. 27.

Mary Morton in Mary Morton and Charlotte Eyerman. Courbet and the Modern Landscape. Exh. cat., J. Paul Getty Museum. Los Angeles, 2006, p. 14.

Katherine Rothkopf. Pissarro: Creating the Impressionist Landscape. Exh. cat., Baltimore Museum of Art. London, 2006, pp. 52, 66 n. 18, p. 92, no. 10, ill. pp. 14, 70–71, 93 (color, overall and detail), notes that Pissarro made seven Jalais Hill pictures, and that this is one of three in which "the hillside and surrounding fields play a larger role".

Belinda Thomson in Turner e gli impressionisti: La grande storia del paesaggio moderno in Europa. Exh. cat., Museo di Santa Giulia, Brescia. Treviso, 2006, p. 190, ill.

Lin Arison in Lin Arison and Neil Folberg. Travels with Van Gogh and the Impressionists: Discovering the Connections. New York, 2007, p. 63, ill. pp. 68, 260 (color).

Gary Tinterow in Masterpieces of European Painting, 1800–1920, in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2007, pp. 86, 290, no. 80, ill. (color and black and white).

Laurence des Cars in Gustave Courbet. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. New York, 2008, p. 237, fig. 1 (color) [French ed., Paris, 2007].

Christine I. Oaklander. "Jonathan Sturges, W. H. Osborn, and William Church Osborn: A Chapter in American Art Patronage." Metropolitan Museum Journal 43 (2008), pp. 188–89, 191, figs. 29 (color), 30 (installation photograph).

Klaus Herding in Courbet: A Dream of Modern Art. Exh. cat., Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt. Ostfildern, 2010, p. 188, under no. 47, compares it to Courbet's "The Valley of Ornans" of 1858 (Saint Louis Art Museum).