An Orchard under the Church of Bihorel

Painted in Rouen in 1884 during a transitional period before Gauguin's definitive break with conventional life and Impressionism, this canvas of an orchard below the church at Bihorel shows him working in the tradition of Pissarro — his mentor — with a subject combining landscape and architecture. Gauguin had been painting with Pissarro and had adopted the Impressionist method, but by 1884 was beginning to feel its limitations. The Bihorel orchard with its church background is painted with Impressionist freshness, but the composition's formality hints at the more deliberate, less spontaneous approach he would develop toward the decade's end.

The orchard is painted with varied, responsive brushwork in the Impressionist manner — dappled light through blossoming trees, the church tower as a vertical accent in the background. The palette is cool and northern, with the pink and white blossoms providing warm color notes. The handling shows Pissarro's influence in its broken, light-filled character.