The Port of Le Havre 2 1903

Camille Pissarro rendered this painting of The Port of Le Havre with oil on canvas. Painted in France, the hazy port scene is a document of nineteenth-century industrialization and a manifestation of the radical transformations of French society at the time. Notice the steamships, belching smoke into the atmosphere. As France modernized, the country was gripped by a faith in technology and an appetite for expansion. The port itself was an important point of transit, not only for goods, but for people too. It was through Le Havre that many migrants left France for new lives in the Americas. Here, Pissarro turns his attention to the spaces of modern commerce, and in doing so, joins a larger artistic conversation about the changing face of French life. Art historians consult a wide range of resources when interpreting paintings like this, from shipping records to travel journals and exhibition reviews. By looking at the painting in its historical context, we can better understand the social and institutional forces that shaped its creation and reception.