Landscape, near Pontoise (1879) is not a painting but a print — a soft-ground etching with aquatint, spit bite, and drypoint on Japanese paper, pulled in the sixth state of six — in which Camille Pissarro translated his painterly landscape vision into the graphic medium ^[3][5]. The work depicts the wooded countryside around L'Hermitage, the rural village near Pontoise where the artist had lived since 1872, and belongs to a small but significant body of prints he produced at the height of his Impressionist engagement ^[4][3].

Provenance: the 1921 Rogers Fund acquisition

The Metropolitan Museum of Art holds the print, which entered its collection in 1921 through the Rogers Fund ^[3]. The sheet measures 10 5/8 x 14 in. (27 x 35.6 cm) with a plate size of 8 11/16 x 10 9/16 in. (22 x 26.9 cm) ^[3]. The print is catalogued in the museum's Department of Drawings and Prints and is on view in Gallery 690 ^[3].

Technique: soft ground, aquatint, and spit bite

Pissarro employed a complex intaglio process for this print, combining soft ground, aquatint, spit bite, etching, and drypoint ^[3][5]. The sixth state, as documented by Shapiro, represents the final stage of the plate's evolution ^[3]. The use of Japanese paper, a support favored by Impressionist printmakers for its absorbency and subtle texture, further distinguishes the impression ^[3][5].

Iconography: the wooded landscape of L'Hermitage

The print depicts the backwoods of the Hermitage, a rural village near Pontoise where Pissarro had been living since 1872 ^[4]. The subject parallels his monumental 1879 oil painting Edge of the Woods Near L'Hermitage, Pontoise (Cleveland Museum of Art), which shows a man slumbering in the sun-dappled forest ^[4]. In the oil version, Pissarro restricted his palette to pure hues and applied brushstrokes in systematic diagonal patterns, producing an effect he likened to knitting ^[4]. The print, though monochromatic, shares the same wooded subject matter and reflects the artist's sustained engagement with the Pontoise landscape during this period ^[3][4].

Artist: Pissarro's role in Impressionism

Born Jacob Abraham Camille Pissarro on 10 July 1830 on the island of Saint Thomas in the Danish West Indies, Pissarro became a Danish-French painter and printmaker central to both Impressionism and Post-Impressionism ^[1][2]. He studied from forerunners including Gustave Courbet and Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, and in 1873 helped establish a collective society of fifteen aspiring artists, becoming the pivotal figure in holding the group together ^[1]. Art historian John Rewald called Pissarro the "dean of the Impressionist painters", not only because he was the oldest of the group, but also "by virtue of his wisdom and his balanced, kind, and warmhearted personality" ^[1]. Paul Cézanne said of him: "he was a father for me. A man to consult and a little like the good Lord" ^[1]. Pissarro later studied and worked alongside Georges Seurat and Paul Signac when he adopted the Neo-Impressionist style at the age of 54 ^[1].

Related works: the 1879 Pontoise series

The print belongs to a cluster of works Pissarro made in 1879 depicting the woods around L'Hermitage. The Cleveland Museum of Art's Edge of the Woods Near L'Hermitage, Pontoise, an oil on fabric measuring 125 x 163 cm, was included in the fourth Impressionist exhibition of 1879 ^[4]. The National Gallery of Art also holds a version of Wooded Landscape at L'Hermitage, Pontoise in aquatint, soft-ground, and drypoint on Japanese paper, dated to the same year ^[5]. Together these works document Pissarro's intensive exploration of a single motif across painting and printmaking at a moment when he was, according to the Cleveland catalogue, desperately poor and struggling to sell his paintings ^[4].

Frequently asked questions

Is Landscape, near Pontoise a painting or a print?

It is a print — specifically a soft-ground etching with aquatint, spit bite, and drypoint on Japanese paper, in the sixth state of six ^[3][5].

Where is the print located today?

The Metropolitan Museum of Art holds the print, which is on view in Gallery 690 ^[3].

What does the title's "Pontoise" refer to?

Pontoise is the town near which the village of L'Hermitage is located; Pissarro had been living there since 1872 and depicted its wooded landscape in both prints and paintings of 1879 ^[4].