The Auvers Road, Pontoise 1879

Curator: Ah, here we are. This is Camille Pissarro's "The Auvers Road, Pontoise," painted in 1879. Pissarro, you know, the father figure of Impressionism. Editor: My first impression? Breezy. I can almost smell the summer dust kicked up by that horse-drawn cart. It feels…unfinished, somehow liberating in its sketchiness. Curator: Liberating is a good word. He was painting en plein air, so capturing the fleeting moment was the whole point. Note the broken brushstrokes, the way he builds up the form with layers of color. Editor: Exactly! Look at the road itself, how it's this gritty, earthy pigment laid on thick. You can practically feel the labor, the materials involved. It is oil paint but I would assume this is where Impressionists began using pastels with oil paint to speed up the painting process outdoors and in direct sunlight. Did he prep the canvas himself, I wonder? That texture, the canvas weave shining through… Curator: He probably did. Pissarro was incredibly dedicated to his craft. Beyond the materiality, I see this road as a metaphor, a journey. It curves into the distance, inviting you in. The figures are so small, yet they add a human dimension to the vast landscape. A woman sitting in the corner adds something. Editor: And it’s not just *a* road; it's *the* Auvers Road. This isn't some idealized pastoral scene; it's a working landscape. People traveling. But there is nothing special that these materials bring, it could easily be from an instruction manual. You get what you see and can almost go buy it in that time with no problem. Curator: That's the genius, isn’t it? To find the extraordinary in the ordinary. I mean, the little red hats—pops of joy! They remind me of tiny rebellious flames against the more muted tones. It feels like the moment a memory is being created. I'm happy just looking at the picture forever. Editor: The painting feels incredibly contemporary in its own way, I would buy all of it from paint, to woman. Pissarro forces us to really see the substance, the origin. What labor was employed to extract each substance of this oil-pastel work? Curator: It makes me wonder what Auvers Road looks like today... how much has changed and how much has stayed the same. Editor: Well, hopefully it will stay beautiful and unchanged like in Pissarro's work.