Camille Pissarro

Rue de l'Epicerie, Rouen (Effect of Sunlight), 1898. Camille Pissarro. Oil on canvas. Purchase, Mr. and Mrs. Richard J. Bernhard Gift, 1960.
By the time of Pissarro’s fourth visit to Rouen in 1898, he was "already familiar with the motifs there." The artist depicted many of the same cityscapes that he had tackled previously, but also scouted out new scenes, such as this one. On August 19, he wrote to his son Lucien: "Yesterday I found an excellent place from which I can paint the rue de l'Épicerie and even the market, a really interesting one, which takes place every Friday." Pissarro painted the view three times, but the Metropolitan's picture is the only one that shows the market in progress.