Anodyne
Sunday, October 23, 2005
 

Camille Pissarro, Factory Near Pontoise, 1873

I think Robert Linsley first mentioned this little painting to me. You can see some Robert, circa 1990, in the grey portions of the clouds, and also in the bank's varied greens and browns, which makes me think that both Pissarro and Robert knew Corot's sketch paintings of the 1820s (for more detailed proof, and visuals, see Peter Galassi's Corot In Italy (Yale UP) now sadly out of print and unavailable unless you, like me, see nothing wrong with spending $150+ on research materials).

According to T.J. Clark, in 1873, the factory was a new presence in the landscape. Pissarro's painting is consequently an exploration of how far the landscape genre will "stretch" -- will or will it not admit this stubby, smoking intruder? It seems to me that the genre admits the factory without difficulty or comment, and that part of this success is the result of Pissarro's withholding how he feels about the little building, in favor of simply depicting it. I like this attitude; I think its opposite, the modern belief that a work of art should clearly and directly communicate how its creator feels about a subject, is both presumptuous and dangerous. Good art deflects intention.
- posted by cjb @ 8:41 PM


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