Route de Versailles, Rocquencourt, Pissarro

This master of Impressionism is considered a genius when it comes to painting light in nature. Pissarro is adept at capturing the effects of each hour of the day and season of the year in all types of landscapes; in fact, he often painted the same landscape in different seasons.

In this case, the painting depicts a very bright summer afternoon (long shadows, warm coloring). In the background to the left, two carriages can be seen, and to the right, a peasant woman is working. The contrast of the nearly open sky in the foreground with the grey clouds at the vanishing point is striking.