“Crockers Lane, Coldharbour" by Lucien Pissarro (1863-1944)

Crockers Lane, Coldharbour

Lucien Pissarro (1863-1944)

1916

Oil on canvas

Unframed: 64.9cm x 53.2cm (framed: 86.8cm x 75cm)

Collection: Manchester Art Gallery

Accession number: 1925.302; gift from Charles Lambert Rutherston, 1925

In 1915-16, Pissarro and his wife spent about seven months in the Surrey Hills, which are are now designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (or AONB, for short). The area is known for its web of ancient winding lanes linking the villages. The banks are often very high, and bordered thickly by hedgerows and tall trees. [Commentary continues below.]

Kindly made available on the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (CC BY-NC-ND).

This lane (also known as Wolvens Lane), runs from around Crockers Farm towards Wooton Hatch. The winter sun casts shadows from the trees, especially the tall one in the middle. There seems to be a sprinkling of snow or frost on the grass verge and the bank opposite, but Pissarro's hand is light and the brushwork does not draw attention to itself. A couple can be seen strolling along together on the deeply rutted road — perhaps returning to their own home in the late afternoon light. Perhaps less immediately attractive then the snow scenes that Pissarro painted here, this is still a very pleasing scene that captures the spirit of the place. — Jacqueline Banerjee

Related Material

Bibliography

Meadmore, William Sutton. Lucien Pissarro: Un Coeur Simple. New York: Knopf, 1963.

Created 14 August 2020