Camille Pissarro’s Snowscape with Cows at Montfoucault depicts the home of fellow artist Ludovic Piette. His limited tonal palette of whites, grays, and greens conveys the stillness of a cold winter day to great effect. The thick application of white paint gives a tangible sense of heavy snow weighing down the barren tree boughs. Pissarro often idealized peasants and portrayed them with dignity in a subtle rebuke of capitalism. The laborers’ muted blue costumes add to the scene’s harmony.
