Snow Scene at Éragny (View of Bazincourt)

Éragny-sur-Epte, in Normandy, was Pissarro's final home and the subject of hundreds of paintings from the 1880s through his death in 1903. This 1884 winter snow scene from the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco was painted during his first years at Éragny, the cold light of the Norman winter providing the same kind of muted, atmospheric subject he had explored around Pontoise. The view toward the neighbouring village of Bazincourt with its church tower gives the composition a modest architectural focal point. Pissarro's snow scenes are among the most atmospherically nuanced of any Impressionist's winter work.

Pissarro uses a cool palette of blue-greys, pale lavenders, and muted ochres to render the overcast winter light. The snow surface is built in varied horizontal strokes. The bare trees are painted with summary, branching marks. The village visible in the background is loosely but decisively indicated.