As the first cultural exchange between the Detroit Institute of Arts and the Albright-Knox, Humble and Human provided a unique opportunity to reunite two paintings by Camille Pissarro depicting the interior and exterior of his friend and fellow painter Ludovic Piette’s home.
Camille Pissarro’s La Ferme à Montfoucault (Farm at Montfoucault) and The Kitchen at Piette’s, Montfoucault in Humble and Human: An Exhibition in Honor of Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Photo by Tom Loonan and Brenda Bieger.
During the fall of 1874, Pissarro made a series of visits to Piette’s farm in the village of Montfoucault, hoping to focus on images of “the true countryside.” The Kitchen at Piette’s, Montfoucault, on loan from the Detroit Institute of Arts, captures the warmly lit interior of the house seen in the background of the Albright-Knox’s Farm at Montfoucault. Pissarro also connected the two works by using a similar color palette. However, while cool blues and gray dominate Farm at Montfoucault, conveying a sense of chill, Pissarro enlivened The Kitchen at Piette’s, Montfoucault with pops of yellow and warmer shades of blue.
Camille Pissarro’s The Kitchen at Piette’s, Montfoucault and Farm at Montfoucault are on view together as part of Humble and Human: An Exhibition in Honor of Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. through Sunday, May 26, 2019.
