Afternoon in Eragny grey weather 1900

Camille Pissarro made this landscape using oil paint on canvas, probably en plein air, in the countryside of Eragny. The visible brushstrokes and textured surface are key to understanding Pissarro's artistic vision. It’s tempting to see impressionist paintings like this as mere representations of the landscape, but I think that misses the point. Instead, we might see them as a kind of artifact. The image is built up through thousands of individual touches of color, each one registering the artist's choices, and the movement of his hand. The resulting artwork has a distinctly handmade quality. While Pissarro's subject is nature, his primary achievement might be seen as an honest record of his own labor. It's work that is far removed from industrial modes of production, yet no less compelling for that reason. By emphasizing the artistry of the hand and the importance of individual experience, Pissarro challenges traditional hierarchies that often separate art from craft, and labor from leisure.