63 - Camille Pissarro (French, 1830-1903)

Camille Pissarro (French, 1830-1903) Ceuillir des pois',signed with initials 'C.P.' (lower right); titled (lower centre),watercolour and charcoal on paper, mounted on canvas, 23x18 cm.This present lot is authenticated by Joachim Pissarro for The Catalogue Raisonné of Drawings by Camille Pissarro Project, and will be included in the forthcoming Catalogue Raisonné of Drawings by Camille Pissarro.In 1880, Pissarro began a large series of figure paintings depicting rural women at work or at rest in a countryside setting. These works reflect a balance between labour and leisure in rural life. In 1881, he completed a series of canvases featuring peasant women and experimented with landscape compositions that served as backgrounds for his figure paintings.Throughout his career, Pissarro frequently portrayed rural peasants. This drawing belongs to that theme and likely depicts a male labourer during the pea harvest, as suggested by the inscription.The drawing appears to be closely related to the 1887 gouache 'La récolte des pois' (Ludovic Rodo Pissarro and Lionello Venturi, ‘Camille Pissarro: son art, son oeuvre’, Paris 1939, no. 1408). It was likely used as a preparatory study for the male figure in that composition. Both figures wear a similar costume consisting of a vest over a shirt, although their poses differ: the figure in the drawing is shown in profile, while the figure in the gouache is seen from behind. Pissarro also produced a more finished preparatory drawing, 'Study of five peasants figures working in a field' (Richard Brettel and Christopher Lloyd, ‘A catalogue of drawings by Camille Pissarro’, Oxford (Ashmolean Museum) 1980, no. 129). The current drawing was therefore likely executed around the same time, circa 1887.