Edge of the Woods Near L'Hermitage, Pontoise1879 · Study 1951.356

Context from the museum

Born to a French-Jewish family on St. Thomas island in the Caribbean, Pissarro painted this monumental landscape when he was desperately poor and struggling to sell his paintings. It depicts a man slumbering in the sun-dappled backwoods of the Hermitage, a rural village near Pontoise, where the artist had been living since 1872. Restricting his palette to pure hues, Pissarro applied brushstrokes in systematic diagonal patterns, producing an effect that he likened to knitting. This canvas was included in the fourth Impressionist exhibition of 1879.

Museum description reproduced from its CC0 open-access record. Read the original catalog entry.

A detail to notice

A goat seen from the back standing next to the figure in blue laying in the grass invites the viewer to step inside this serene and beautiful setting.

Observation supplied by the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Read the dimensions before the image

The selected unframed measurement for Edge of the Woods Near L'Hermitage, Pontoise is 163 cm wide and 125 cm high, equivalent to approximately 64.2 × 49.2 inches. Dividing width by height gives a format ratio of 1.30:1. The rectangular bounding area is 2.04 square meters; it describes the measured footprint, not the amount of paint or the monetary value.

On an illustrative 300 cm wall, the recorded width occupies 54.3% of the span before adding a frame. A centered placement leaves approximately 68.5 cm on each side before adding a frame. These are calculations by Physical Art For Crypto using museum measurements. They are not the museum’s display recommendations.

Questions to bring to your own collection

With Edge of the Woods Near L'Hermitage, Pontoise in view, identify one feature you can point to, then distinguish what the museum records from your personal response. Keep its medium, oil on fabric, in your notes when comparing contemporary works.

• Which part of this horizontal composition catches your eye first?
• Would a 163 cm width still suit the space after allowing for furniture and a frame?
• What surface detail would you need to see in person or in a close photograph?