Landscape at l'Hermitage, Pointoise

This is a rare print with a unique provenance. It is the only impression of this quintessentially Impressionist composition that was taken before the artist reworked the plate heavily, ruining the sense of light, air, and distance that is so magically captured here. Further, this was the impression -- and not one from the reworked plate -- that the artist selected to hang with others of his prints, paintings, and drawings, in the 1880 exhibition of works by the Société Anonyme des Artistes, Peintres, Sculpteurs, Graveurs, Etc., that is, the Fifth Impressionist Exhibition. Several of the more famous Impressionist artists had already forsaken the organization, including Monet and Cezanne, but Gauguin, Degas, and Cassatt remained; and the last three exhibited a number of prints, which, with the Pissarros', must have been a feature of the exhibition. Given their printmaking history -- they formed a virtual collective of etchers -- perhaps the selection of this print, to join the others, was a group choice. It should be noted that although the print bears the inscription "Paysage à l'hermitage", the title of the print as given in the 5th Impressionist exhibition catalogue, under #141, is "Côteaux de l'Hermitage, Pontoise" ("Hillsides at l'Hermitage, Pontoise"). In addition, the impression comes from the collection of Marcel Guérin (1873-1948). Although he was too young to have appreciated the print in its earliest manifestation, he became a major scholar of Impressionism, with a specialty in the prints of Forain, Gauguin, and Degas.