Peasants' houses, Éragny

Éragny-sur-Epte was Pissarro's home from 1884 until his death in 1903; he eventually bought the house in 1892 with a loan from Monet. This painting belongs to the narrow window (1885–1888) when Pissarro abandoned his Impressionist brushwork to experiment with the Neo-Impressionist pointillist technique developed by the younger Georges Seurat and Paul Signac. He was the only member of the original Impressionist circle to make this shift seriously, and one of the few who later stepped back from it. The painting was purchased from Pissarro by Theo van Gogh — Vincent's brother and Paris art dealer — for Galerie Goupil in 1888. It eventually traveled to Australia, where the New South Wales Society of Artists held it before selling it to the Art Gallery of New South Wales in 1935.