Landscape in Normandy

Gauguin's Normandy landscapes from the early 1880s — before his Brittany period — were produced under the continuing influence of Pissarro and the Impressionist landscape tradition he absorbed during their collaboration at Pontoise. Normandy, with its rolling bocage, orchards, and overcast skies, was one of the canonical Impressionist landscape territories, and Gauguin's engagement with it places him squarely within the movement he was not yet ready to depart from. These early landscapes are technically accomplished Impressionism but show none of the formal originality that would emerge at Pont-Aven six years later.

Rolling Normandy countryside is rendered with a naturalistic broken-colour touch. The palette is dominated by greens, ochres, and the characteristic grey-blue of overcast northern French light. The handling is competent Impressionism showing the direct influence of Pissarro's systematic approach to outdoor colour notation.