The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of July 12, 2026

A vertically oriented pen lithograph in black ink on cream paper depicts a woman sitting on a bank, facing right with her chin resting on her hand. Thick, gestural strokes and frenetic hatching form dense trees behind her. To the right, horizontal lines and reflections represent a pond. The composition uses high-contrast, jagged black lines and heavy ink patterns to define textures and shadows throughout the scene.

Woman Sitting by a Pond

c. 1874

Camille Pissarro

(French, 1830–1903)
France
Pen lithograph
Sheet: 34.7 x 27.5 cm (13 11/16 x 10 13/16 in.)
Karl B. Goldfield Trust 2024.58
Catalogue raisonné: Delteil/Cailac 138
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

The stark monochromatic tonality of this print recalls Pissarro’s earlier involvement with Barbizon School landscape and those artists’ use of cliché verre, a hybrid photographic process that produced a similar appearance.

Description

Although best known for his paintings, Camille Pissarro was also an important and inventive printmaker. This work was created during a period in which he was experimenting extensively with transfer lithography. Rather than drawing directly on a stone, Pissarro produced a pen and ink study that was transferred to the printing surface, allowing the aesthetic of drawn lines and the texture of the paper to be preserved. Like many of his lithographs, Pissarro printed Woman Sitting by a Pond in only two impressions rather than a formal edition.
  • ?–2024
    (Joel Bergquist Fine Arts, Nashville, TN, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    September 9, 2024–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • {{cite web|title=Woman Sitting by a Pond|url=false|author=Camille Pissarro|year=c. 1874|access-date=12 July 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2024.58