Rabbit Warren at Pontoise, Snow 1879

Camille Pissarro made this landscape with oil on canvas, probably sometime in the 1870s. Pissarro was a master of capturing light, and here he uses the thick materiality of oil paint to render the soft, heavy blanket of snow. Notice how the brushstrokes themselves seem to mimic the texture of the landscape, evoking a sense of the physical effort required to navigate this wintry scene. The visible brushwork reminds us of the artist's labor, the repetitive, physical act of applying paint to canvas, mirroring the labor of the figure depicted clearing the snow. Pissarro often painted scenes of rural life, and in this work, he directs our attention to the everyday struggles of working-class people in the French countryside. There is a social dimension here, beyond the aesthetic beauty, showing the connection between the artist’s work and the lives of those he observed. Considering the materials and the making of this artwork, enriches our appreciation, and blurs the boundaries between the high art of painting, and the everyday realities of work.