The Painting and Its Companions: In a letter written to his son Lucien from Eragny, December 4, 1898, Pissarro speaks of having rented an apartment on the Rue de Rivoli, facing the Tuileries, with a "superb view of the Park . . . the Louvre to the left, in the background the houses on the quays behind the trees, to the right the Dôme des Invalides, the steeples of Sainte-Clotilde behind the solid mass of chestnut trees . . . . I shall paint a fine series" (see John Rewald, ed.,
Letters to His Son Lucien, London, 1980, p. 333). In fact, he painted two series. The first was painted in 1899; the second in 1900. For an overview of these series, see the catalogue entry for The Met
1992.103.3.
Three Jardin des Tuileries views from the second series are often installed side by side in the galleries at The Met, and close examination reveals differences among them. (In addition to this one and
1992.103.3, see
1979.414.) First, there are variations in the weather, always a preoccupation of the Impressionists, who complained to each other that the sun did not shine often enough. This was a serious matter for artists working outdoors, as they required clement weather to paint and had significant living expenses when away from home in search of new subjects. However, Pissarro had found success in old age and could afford to observe the rain, snow, or fog from a comfortable hotel or rental property. When the air is clear, so is the view. (Compare this painting, in which the roofs of houses on the Left Bank are visible, with
1979.414, where the distance is a blur.) Weather directly affects crowd size, too, though Parisians are accustomed to damp and carry on about their business, while in the nineteenth century everybody walked more than we do now: the Tuileries Garden is not only a place of refuge, but also connects one side of the city with the other. Pissarro chose to “frame” each view slightly differently and adjusted the edges of the scene to achieve a slightly different composition. His palette changed, with more grass (bright green) or less gravel (pale rose), and in accordance with the amount and direction of the sunlight. Here, the figures cast no shadows. Details included in one picture may barely appear in another: for example, the presence of low-slung fences in the spring painting but barely visible in the winter pictures. There are other real as well as seasonal differences: small trees had been planted in the flower beds by the time the artist painted the spring view. It is worth noting that there is a limit to exactitude, and while the Impressionists recorded what they saw, they left out what they regarded as displeasing or unnecessary.
Provenance: Early in his career, Pissarro had worked with Impressionist Alfred Sisley, who, in 1880, moved to Moret-sur-Loing, two hours southeast of Paris. Sisley enjoyed only limited success during his lifetime and died at Moret on January 29, 1899, leaving two impoverished middle-aged children. A sale for their benefit, organized with the participation of Claude Monet, was scheduled for May 1, 1899, at the Galerie Georges Petit; many painters, including fellow members of the Impressionist group, contributed work. Pissarro sent this canvas, which, as lot 68,
Les Tuileries, après-midi d’hiver, was bought jointly by the dealers Durand-Ruel and Bernheim-Jeune for the high price of four thousand eight hundred francs. By contrast, they paid the artist three thousand francs for each of the two other examples from the Tuileries series in The Met’s collection.
Katharine Baetjer 2022
