Artwork
Landscape with Riders
Landscape with Riders is an oil painting by the Impressionist artist Félix Pissarro. It dates from 1895 and is held in the collection of the Ashmolean Museum.
About this work
Overview
Created circa 1895, Landscape with Riders is an oil painting by French artist Félix Pissarro. Executed in the late Impressionist style, the work presents a countryside scene populated by figures on horseback. The composition is part of the Ashmolean Museum’s permanent collection.
Subject & Meaning
The canvas depicts a rural tableau where two dark‑clad riders on brown horses occupy the right side of the picture. A solitary tree dominates the centre, while a field of tall, yellowish grass stretches toward the foreground. Distant houses and additional trees recede under a muted gray sky, suggesting a quiet, everyday moment in the countryside.
Technique & Style
Pissarro employs a balanced palette of dark and light tones, allowing the riders and their mounts to stand out against a brighter background. The central tree functions as a visual anchor, creating depth, while the handling of light on the grass and sky reflects the Impressionist interest in atmospheric effects and fleeting illumination.
History & Provenance
Félix Pissarro, the third son of the renowned Impressionist Camille Pissarro, produced this work during a period when he was exploring rural subjects. The painting entered the Ashmolean Museum’s collection, where it remains on display as part of the institution’s representation of late‑19th‑century French art.
Artist & collection
Artist
Félix Pissarro (also known by the pseudonym Jean Roch; 24 July 1874 – 29 November 1897) was a nineteenth-century French painter, etcher and caricaturist of Portuguese-Jewish descent.
