Entrance to the Village of Osny

Painted in 1882 at Osny near Pontoise under the direct influence of Pissarro, this village entrance scene reflects Gauguin's early Impressionist period — working in the Norman countryside alongside the master who first recognised his talent. Pissarro had encouraged Gauguin as an amateur painter in the 1870s and sponsored his inclusion in the Impressionist exhibitions. This early landscape, now at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, shows the competent, light-filled Impressionism that was Gauguin's starting point before his radical evolution.

The village lane is rendered with Impressionist directness — varied brushwork recording light on stone walls, tree foliage, and road surface. The palette is fresh and naturalistic, dominated by greens and ochres typical of the Norman countryside in moderate light. Pissarro's influence is clear in both the choice of humble rural subject and the broken brushwork technique.