Two Young Peasant Women

Camille Pissarro

1891–92 · Oil on canvas · European Paintings

By virtue of their size, placement, and quiet dignity, these youthful laborers dominate the landscape setting—an open field near Pissarro’s house at Eragny. Sympathetic to anarchist ideals, the artist wanted to preserve the values of agrarian society that were being threatened by the rapid industrialization of France. He began this picture in summer 1891 and completed it in mid-January 1892, a month before the opening of a major exhibition of his work organized by his dealer Joseph Durand-Ruel. Many of the fifty paintings were sold from the show, but Pissarro kept this canvas and gave it to his wife.

Artist

Camille Pissarro

Date

1891–92

Medium

Oil on canvas

Department

European Paintings

Credit line

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, 1973