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Overview

Camille Pissarro, one of the creators of the impressionist style, was the only impressionist to participate in each of the eight group exhibitions. He sent five paintings to the first show in 1874. Its modest scale and simple subject notwithstanding, Orchard in Bloom, Louveciennes headed the list of Pissarro's works in the catalogue, perhaps for personal associations. Fleeing with his family to London during the Franco-Prussian War, the artist waited until late 1871, after the suppression of the Commune, to return to his home in Louveciennes. His house had been occupied and many of the paintings he had left behind had been destroyed. As France began to rebuild, the artist also gradually recovered from the disaster. In Orchard in Bloom, Louveciennes, painted the next spring, abundant white blossoms and freshly plowed soil are tokens of hope and renewal.

Early in his career Pissarro designated himself a pupil of Corot, and in this 1872 painting Pissarro's broad method of composing and choice of a tranquil rural setting inhabited by a few small peasant figures still recall the older artist. Pissarro was able to sell the painting in July 1872, soon after its completion. It was bought by a new and important patron, Paul Durand-Ruel, one of the earliest impressionist purchases by the dealer remembered for his courageous and sustained support of the avant-garde artists.

Inscription

lower right: C. Pissarro 1872

Provenance

Acquired from the artist in 1872 by (Durand-Ruel, Paris); sold between 1882 and 1888.[1] Alfred Bernheim, Paris, by 1936.[2] purchased 1946 by (Alex Reid & Lefèvre, London); sold 14 March 1950 to Lady Baillie. (Arthur Tooth and Sons, London); sold June 1959 to (Sam Salz Inc., New York);[3] sold 26 April 1960 to Ailsa Mellon Bruce [1901-1969], New York;[4] bequest 1970 to NGA.

Exhibition History

1874
Première Exposition, Société Anonyme des Artistes Peintres, Sculptuers, Graveurs, etc. [First Impressionist Exhibition], Paris, 1874, no. 14, as Le verger.
1936
Les premières époques de Camille Pissarro, de 1858 à 1884, Galerie Marcel Bernheim, 1936, no. 13, as Berger [sic] à Louveciennes.
1961
French Paintings of the Nineteenth Century from the Collection of Mrs. Mellon Bruce, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, 1961, no. 37, repro
1966
French Paintings from the Collections of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon and Mrs. Mellon Bruce, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1966, no. 27, repro
1986
Capolavori Impressionisti dei Musei Americani, Museo e Gallerie Nazionali di Capodimonte, Naples; Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan, 1986-1987, no. 35, repro.
1986
The New Painting: Impressionism 1874-1886, National Gallery of Art, Washington, and The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 1986, no. 14, repro.
1990
Französische Impressionisten und ihre Wegbereiter aus der National Gallery of Art, Washington und dem Cincinnati Art Museum, Neue Pinakothek, Munich, 1990, no. 40, repro.
1994
Paris in 1874: The Year of Impressionism, National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 1994, no. 38, repro., as Le Verger.
1998
Camille Pissarro, Civiche Gallerie d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Ferrara, Palazzo dei Diamanti, Ferrara, 1998, no. 13, repro.
2007
Pissarro: Creating the Impressionist Landscape, The Baltimore Museum of Art; Milwaukee Art Museum; Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, 2007-2008, no. 27, repro.
2011
Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; The National Art Center, Tokyo; Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, 2011, no. 38, repro.
2013
Intimate Impressionism from the National Gallery of Art, Museo dell'Ara Pacis Augustae, Rome (exhibition title in this venue: Impressionist Gems); California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco; McNay Art Museum, San Antonio; Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, Tokyo, Seattle Art Museum, 2013-2016.
2016
Daubigny, Monet, Van Gogh. Impressions of Landscape, Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati; Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh; Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, 2016-2017, no. 11, repro. (shown only in Cincinnati).

Bibliography

1939
Pissarro, Ludovic and Lionello Venturi. Camille Pissarro, son art, son oeuvre. 2 vols. Paris, 1939:1:100, no. 153, as Verger en Fleurs, Louveciennes; 2:pl. 31.
1966
Goldwater, Robert. "The Glory that was France." Art News 65 (March 1966): 86.
1973
Rewald, John. The History of Impressionism. New York, 1973:297, repro.
1973
Rewald, John. "The Impressionist Brush." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin XXXII. no. 3 (1973/1974):24, repro.
1974
Cogniet, Raymond. Pissarro. Paris, 1974:repro. 38
1975
European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 270, repro.
1978
Small French Paintings from the Bequest of Ailsa Mellon Bruce. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1978: 18, repro. (continuing exhibition beginning in 1978).
1984
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 508, no. 758, color repro.
1985
European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 314, repro.
1990
Französische Impressionisten und ihre Wegbereiter aus der National Gallery of Art, Washington und dem Cincinnati Art Museum. Exh. cat. Neue Pinakothek, Munich, 1990: no. 40, repro.
1991
Coman, Florence E. Joie de Vivre: French Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1991: no. 7, repro.
1992
National Gallery of Art, Washington. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 189, repro.
1997
Kelder, Diane. The Great Book of French Impressionism, 1997, no. 128, repro.
1997
Southgate, M. Therese. The Art of JAMA: One Hundred Covers and Essays from The Journal of the American Medical Association. St. Louis, 1997: 88-89, 204, color repro.
2005
Pissarro, Joachim and Claire Durand-Ruel Snollaerts, Pissarro: Critical Catalogue of the Paintings, 3 vols., Milan, Paris and New York, 2005: II:248, repro.

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