Detail of Rue de l'Epicerie Rouen by Pissarro in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, January 2022

Title: Rue de l'Épicerie, Rouen (Effect of Sunlight)

Artist: Camille Pissarro (French, Charlotte Amalie, Saint Thomas 1830–1903 Paris)

Date: 1898

Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 32 x 25 5/8 in. (81.3 x 65.1 cm)

Classification: Paintings

Credit Line: Purchase, Mr. and Mrs. Richard J. Bernhard Gift, 1960

Accession Number: 60.5


By the time of Pissarro’s fourth visit to Rouen in 1898, he was "already familiar with the motifs there." The artist depicted many of the same cityscapes that he had tackled previously, but also scouted out new scenes, such as this one. On August 19, he wrote to his son Lucien: "Yesterday I found an excellent place from which I can paint the rue de l'Épicerie and even the market, a really interesting one, which takes place every Friday." Pissarro painted the view three times, but the Metropolitan's picture is the only one that shows the market in progress.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/437311