The Banks of the Oise near Pontoise

Pissarro’s landscape was painted at the dawn of the Impressionist era. Its silver light and vast expanse of sky reflect the movement’s emphasis on recording atmospheric conditions. While the loose Impressionist brushwork creates a rich surface texture, the composition locks road, river, sky, and field into the firm structure that is a hallmark of his style. Tucked into the scene are a barge, factory, smokestack, and railroad—clear signs of the growing industrialization that the Romantics and most Impressionists preferred to omit from their views of the French countryside.