Rue de Poulfenc à Riec

Rue de Poulfenc à Riec 1910 oil on canvas by Lucien Pissarro (1863-1944).

Landscape of little hills and valleys with a winding road snaking into the distance, leading towards a village on the horizon at upper right of composition. To lower right, an escarpment overgrown with gorse; to left of road, a landscape of uneven fields and trees.

Between January and April 1910 Lucien stayed at the Hotel Cadoret, Riec-sur-Belon, Brittany. He found the countryside inspiring but he found it difficult to paint. He often lacked confidence in his ability as a painter in the shadow of his father. Despite this, he completed ten paintings whilst there of which this is possibly one.

Lucien Pissarro was the son of the highly influential French Impressionist painter, Camille Pissarro.  He settled in Britain permanently in 1890 to establish an independent career as an artist and moved to Epping, Essex, in 1893. He provided a vital link with the French Impressionists and influenced the formation of the Camden Town Group with which he became associated. Carel Weight’s friendship with Lucien Pissarro’s daughter Orovida, explains the presence of this painting in his personal collection part of which he later bequeathed to Tullie House in 1999.