Place Saint Lazare (1893) is an oil painting by the Danish-French Impressionist Camille Pissarro (1830–1903), depicting the bustling square in front of the Gare Saint-Lazare in Paris. The work, measuring 60.1 × 73.5 cm, is held in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, where it is catalogued as The Place du Havre, Paris . Painted at the height of Pissarro's engagement with urban subjects, the canvas captures the intersection of modern industrial life and Impressionist pictorial concerns, a theme the artist explored repeatedly in his final decades.
The painting's ownership chain is documented from its creation. Pissarro sold the work to the prominent Parisian dealer Durand-Ruel on March 17, 1893, the same year it was painted . The following year, on June 28, 1894, Durand-Ruel sold it to Potter Palmer of Chicago for $1,200, a transaction recorded in the Durand-Ruel Archives under Stock no. 1168 (New York) and Paris Stock no. 2707, where the work was listed as Place du Hârve . The painting remained in the Palmer family by descent until it was given to the Art Institute of Chicago in 1922 as part of the Potter Palmer Collection .
| Date | Event | Details |
|---|---|---|
| 1893 | Artist sale | Sold by Pissarro to Durand-Ruel, Paris, March 17 |
| 1894 | Dealer sale | Sold to Potter Palmer, Chicago, June 28, for $1,200 |
| c. 1902–1922 | Family descent | By descent to the Potter family, Chicago |
| 1922 | Gift | Given to the Art Institute of Chicago |
The painting was exhibited publicly within a year of its completion. It appeared at the Galerie Durand-Ruel in Paris in the Exposition d’oeuvres récentes de Camille Pissarro (March 15–30, 1893), catalogue no. 40, under the title la Place du Havre . A second Durand-Ruel exhibition followed in 1894, Exposition Camille Pissarro: Tableaux, Aquarelles, Pastels, Gouaches (March 3–21), where it was listed as catalogue no. 8, titled Cour du Havre . Later showings include the Renaissance Society of The University of Chicago's Paintings of Sea and Land and City Streets (June 8–August 30, 1933, cat. 3) and the Arts Club of Chicago's Paintings by Camille Pissarro .
Pissarro's approach in Place Saint Lazare exemplifies the Impressionist concern with capturing fleeting effects of light and atmosphere. His loose brushwork and attention to the dynamic interplay of light and shadow convey the vibrancy of the Parisian street scene, a hallmark of his urban paintings from this period [1]. The artist's importance to the movement is well established: art historian John Rewald called Pissarro the "dean of the Impressionist painters," noting his role as the oldest member of the group and the "pivotal" figure in holding the collective together [1]. Pissarro had studied from earlier masters including Gustave Courbet and Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, and in 1873 he helped establish a collective society of fifteen aspiring artists [1].
The painting's subject—the square before the Gare Saint-Lazare—reflects the 19th-century transformation of Paris and the rise of industrial modernity. Pissarro's choice of an urban transport hub aligns with the Impressionist interest in contemporary life, a departure from the rural scenes for which he was also known [1]. The work captures the intersection of people, vehicles, and architecture in a moment of daily activity, embodying the movement's engagement with the changing social landscape of the French capital [1].
This painting belongs to a broader body of urban landscapes Pissarro produced in the 1890s, a period when he turned increasingly to city views [1]. The Art Institute of Chicago's catalogue entry notes the work's alternate title, The Place du Havre, Paris, reflecting the specific location depicted . Pissarro's later adoption of Neo-Impressionist techniques, studied alongside Georges Seurat and Paul Signac at age 54, situates this 1893 canvas within his transitional period between pure Impressionism and his subsequent experiments with divisionist color theory [1].
The painting is in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, where it is catalogued as The Place du Havre, Paris (accession via the Potter Palmer Collection, given 1922) .
The painting is oil on canvas, measuring 60.1 × 73.5 cm (23 5/8 × 28 13/16 in.); framed, it measures 83.2 × 97.8 × 12.1 cm .
The Art Institute of Chicago records the title as The Place du Havre, Paris, while early exhibition catalogues used la Place du Havre (1893) and Cour du Havre (1894); the work is also known as Place Saint Lazare .
Jacob Abraham Camille Pissarro ( piss-AR-oh; French: [kamij pisaʁo]; 10 July 1830 – 13 November 1903) was a Danish-French Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist painter born on the island of Saint Thomas (now in the US Virgin Islands, but then
French painter and printmaker, 1830-1903
Louie Drehmer, Curator, ArtWiki
Louie curates ArtWiki, cross-referencing every entry against museum records, Wikidata, the Getty Union List of Artist Names, and Wikipedia.
Place Saint Lazare is an oil painting by Camille Pissarro, 1893, held at Private Collection.
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