Street in the Snow, Louveciennes 1870

Street in the Snow, Louveciennes, was made by Camille Pissarro with oil paint on canvas, using a brush to apply short, loose strokes. Pissarro wasn’t interested in capturing a photographic likeness of this street. Instead, he used the material qualities of paint to convey the atmosphere of a cold, snowy day. The visible brushstrokes create a sense of texture and movement, mimicking the way snow falls and settles on the ground. Pissarro's technique captures the fleeting effects of light and weather, which are the true subjects of his painting. His approach was radical, rejecting the smooth, polished surfaces of academic painting in favor of a more direct and expressive handling of the material. In its own way, this approach elevates the status of the craft. It asserts that the way something is made is just as important as what it depicts. The visible labor of the artist becomes part of the artwork's meaning.