“Orchard in Bloom, Louveciennes”
This lovely oil on canvas piece from 1872, titled “Orchard in Bloom, Louveciennes”, was made Camille Pissarro, the Danish-French artist of the Impressionism and Post-Impressionism movements. This piece was shown at the very first Impressionist art exhibition that took place in Paris in 1874. It was the first of five pieces Pissarro had in the show, likely because of his personal connections with the piece.
Pissarro lived in Louveciennes, in the western suburb of Paris. As he was unable to join the French army due to his Danish nationality, in 1870, during the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War, he fled France for England. When Pissarro returned home in 1871, he found that his house had been occupied by soldiers during the war, ruining many of his paintings in the process. After his return to France, Pissarro painted this piece, an optimistic painting celebrating springtime, new life, and perhaps the hope of the future.
The painting was actually sold the same year it was painted, in 1872, by Paul Durand-Ruel, an early patron and supporter for the Impressionist artists who showed their work in his gallery as early as 1872.
“Orchard in Bloom, Louveciennes” is currently on display at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C.
For more on Camille Pissarro, please visit his short biography here.
You can find more artists to learn about here.
