While visiting Rouen in spring and fall 1896, Pissarro wrote of his interest in the "motif of the iron bridge on a rainy day, with much traffic, carriages, pedestrians, workers on the quays, boats, smoke, mist in the distance, the whole scene fraught with animation and life." The present canvas is one of several views of the Boieldieu Bridge, or Grand Pont, that Pissarro painted from a room in the Hôtel d'Angleterre. Its title, "Matin, Temps Gris, Rouen," is thought to be Pissarro's own. Pissarro painted many of his city views of the 1890s and early 1900s from the windows of hotel rooms; he had developed an eye ailment that gradually prevented him from working outdoors.

Inscription: Signed and dated (lower right): C.Pissarro.96

[Durand-Ruel, New York, 1896–1944; purchased from the artist on December 11, 1896; sold on February 29, 1944 to Tarnopol]; Grégoire Tarnopol, New York (1944–d. 1979); his son, Alexander Tarnopol (1979–80)

New York. Durand-Ruel Galleries. "Paintings by Camille Pissarro — Views of Rouen," March–April 1897, no. 3 [see Ref. Snollaerts 2005].

Saint Louis Music Hall. "Saint Louis Exposition 1897, Fourteenth Annual Exhibition," probably September–October 1897, no. 423 (possibly this picture) [see Ref. Snollaerts 2005].

Cincinnati Art Museum. "A Comparative Exhibition of Paintings," December 1897, no. 603 (as "The Seine at Rouen on a Gray Day," lent by Durand-Ruel; possibly this picture) [see Ref. Snollaerts 2005].

New York. Durand-Ruel Galleries. "Paintings by Camille Pissarro," November 28–December 12, 1903, no. 34 [see Ref. Snollaerts 2005].

Boston. Brooks Reed Gallery. December 1916–January 1917, no catalogue? [see Ref. Snollaerts 2005].

New York. Durand-Ruel Galleries. "Paintings by Pissarro," February 3–17, 1917, no. 6 [see Ref. Snollaerts 2005].

Dallas. Adolphus Hotel. "First Annual Exhibition: Contemporary International Art," November 18–27, 1919, no. 76 [see Ref. Snollaerts 2005].

Dallas. Adolphus Hotel, Dallas Art Association. "Second Annual Exhibition: American and European Art," April 7–21, 1921, no. 206 (as "Rouen," lent by Durand-Ruel, New York).

New York. Durand-Ruel Galleries. "Paintings by Camille Pissarro, 1830–1903," December 1–?, 1923, no. 11 (as "Matin, temps gris, Rouen").

Columbia. University of Missouri. March–April 1924, no catalogue? (lent by Durand-Ruel) [see Ref. Snollaerts 2005].

Memphis. Brooks Memorial Art Gallery. "Modern European Paintings," October 3–November 1, 1924, no. 18 (lent by Durand-Ruel, New York) [see Ref. Snollaerts 2005].

Poughkeepsie. Taylor Art Gallery. "Paintings by French Impressionists," January 1926, no. 9 [see Ref. Snollaerts 2005].

Toronto. Fine Arts Galleries. November–December 1930, no catalogue? (lent by Durand-Ruel) [see Ref. Snollaerts 2005].

Bronxville, N. Y. Sarah Lawrence College. "Pioneers of the French Impressionist School," beginning February 1932, no catalogue? (lent by Durand-Ruel) [see Ref. Snollaert 2005].

Bronx. Fieldston School. "Pioneers of the French Impressionist School," February 15–29, 1932, no catalogue? (lent by Durand-Ruel) [see Ref. Snollaert 2005].

Montreal. W. Scott & Sons. "French Paintings: Renoir and His Contemporaries," March 1936, no. 9 (possibly this picture) [see Ref. Snollaerts 2005].

San Francisco Museum of Art. "Impressionism: Paintings by Monet, Pissarro, Renoir, Seurat, Sisley," Summer 1938, no. 20 (as "Gray Morning, Rouen," lent by Durand-Ruel, New York).

New York. Durand-Ruel. "The Art of Camille Pissarro in Retrospect," March 24–April 15, 1941, no. 1 (as "Matin, temps gris, Rouen").

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Paintings from Private Collections: Summer Loan Exhibition," July 6–September 4, 1960, no. 90 (as "Morning, Rouen," lent by Grégoire Tarnopol).

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Paintings from Private Collections: Summer Loan Exhibition," July 12–September 2, 1963, no. 60 (as "Morning, Rouen," lent by Grégoire Tarnopol).

New York. Wildenstein & Co., Inc.. "C. Pissarro," March 25–May 1, 1965, no. 62 (lent by Gregoire Tarnopol).

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Summer Loan Exhibition," July 8–September 5, 1966, no. 136 (as "Morning, Rouen," lent by Grégoire Tarnopol).

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "New York Collects," July 3–September 2, 1968, no. 165 (as "Morning, Rouen," lent by Grégoire Tarnopol).

Dallas Museum of Art. "The Impressionist and the City: Pissarro's Series Paintings," November 15, 1992–January 31, 1993, no. 5 (as "Morning, Overcast Day, Rouen").

Philadelphia Museum of Art. "The Impressionist and the City: Pissarro's Series Paintings," March 7–June 6, 1993, no. 5.

Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen. "A City for Impressionism: Monet, Pissarro, and Gauguin in Rouen," June 4–September 26, 2010, no. 75 (as "Morning, Overcast Sky, Rouen" or "Pont Boieldieu, Rouen, Morning, Rainy Weather").

Camille Pissarro. Letter to Lucien Pissarro. October 2, 1896 [published and translated in John Rewald, ed., "Camille Pissarro, Letters to His Son Lucien," London, 1980, pp. 296–97], comments on the view from his hotel window.

Camille Pissarro. Letter to Lucien Pissarro. February 26, 1896 [published and translated in John Rewald, ed., "Camille Pissarro, Letters to His Son Lucien," London, 1980, pp. 282–83], remarks that he has begun a dozen pictures that study the atmospheric changes on bridges and quays with boats, but notes that what he is most interested in the motif of the iron bridge.

Ludovic Rodo Pissarro and Lionello Venturi. Camille Pissarro, son art—son œuvre. reprint ed. 1989. Paris, 1939, vol. 1, p. 215, no. 964; vol. 2, pl. 195, no. 964.

Anne Schirrmeister. Camille Pissarro. New York, 1982, pp. 15–16, colorpl. 18, mentions that it is one of a large series of paintings that illustrate the Pont Grand; remarks that the pedestrians and dock workers are sketchily indicated in a "caricatural style".

Charles S. Moffett. Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1985, pp. 96–97, ill. (color, overall and detail).

Richard R. Brettell and Joachim Pissarro. The Impressionist and the City: Pissarro's Series Paintings. Exh. cat., Dallas Museum of Art. New Haven, 1992, pp. 4, 13, 210, no. 5, colorpl. 5, state that it was painted between September 8 and November 12, 1896, and that it depicts the Pont Boïeldieu as seen from Pissarro's hotel window on the second floor on the Cours Boïeldieu.

Alexia de Buffévent in Joachim Pissarro and Claire Durand-Ruel Snollaerts. Pissarro: Critical Catalogue of Paintings. Milan, 2005, vol. 1, p. 276.

Claire Durand-Ruel Snollaerts in Joachim Pissarro and Claire Durand-Ruel Snollaerts. Pissarro: Critical Catalogue of Paintings. Milan, 2005, vol. 1, pp. 364, 366, 370–74, 376–77, 380–81, 383, 393, 395–98, 415; vol. 3, pp. 719, 955, 958, no. 1140, ill. (color).

Marie-Claude Coudert in A City for Impressionism: Monet, Pissarro, and Gauguin in Rouen. Exh. cat., Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen. Paris, 2010, pp. 295–96, no. 75, ill. p. 298 (color).

This picture is one of a large series, sixteen works, that Pissarro painted of the Pont Grand or the Pont Boïeldieu in Rouen as seen from the Hôtel d'Angleterre on the Cours Boïeldieu. The MMA work was painted between early September and early November of 1896.