Chestnut Grove at Louveciennes, 1872. Camille Pissarro. Oil on canvas. Gift of Henry W. and Marion H. Bloch.
Pissarro lived at Louveciennes, a suburb to the southwest of Paris, from 1869 to 1872. His work from this period is characterized by an intense interest in shadow and structure. In this painting, the diagonal of a battered trunk interrupts the verticals of the other trees while strong lines of shadow animate the ground. In the distance in the center is part of the aqueduct of Marly that originally transported water from the river Seine to the royal gardens at Versailles.
During the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871), Pissarro fled to England. The studio he left behind at Louveciennes was used as quarters for Prussian soldiers, who destroyed large numbers of his pictures. This painting, purchased in 1997, is the most recent Impressionist acquisition by the Blochs.
