Born in Criquetot-sur-Ouville, Normandy, in 1854, Charles Angrand exhibited for the first time at the 26th Exposition Municipale de Rouen in 1878. The exceptional quality of his work at this young age enabled him to win recognition and several prizes at the Académie de Peinture et de Dessin in 1880, 1881 and 1882.

In 1882 he moved to Paris, taking a studio at 47 boulevard des Batignolles, next to the famous cafés Le Guerbois, Café d’Athenes and Le Chat Noir. Here, immersed in the artistic life of Paris, he established friendships with artists and writers including Seurat, Signac, Luce, Cross and Fénéon.

In 1883 Angrand exhibited with the Societe des Jeunes Artistes. Félix Fénéon observed in his art column at the time: ‘…among the works exhibited by Charles Angrand, in particular we notice that his ‘Moissonneur’ doesn’t look at all bad beside a Claude Monet.’

By 1886, the year of the present painting, Angrand sent six canvases to the second Salon des Indépendants, making an important contribution to the salon and attracting even more attention from the important critics of the day. Fénéon wrote: ‘..his works are notable for their rapidity, severe melancholy, inclination to solemn tones. The paintings of 1886 have a more flexible treatment….the painter’s personality is resolved, keen strong…’

Benefiting from Georges Seurat’s friendship, Angrand saw the birth of Divisionism and in 1886 began to adopt the Divisionist technique, investing his time studying optical effects, the division of tone, and colour and light analysis.

'Paysage', c. 1886, in all its deceptive simplicity, is a key work that anticipates the dramatic shift in Angrand’s style at this time. This particularly perceptive and wonderfully evocative observation of nature employs, alongside its naturalism, a range of bright green, yellow and white tonalities and a plein air setting, that are patently indebted to the Impressionist tradition. Nonetheless, Angrand’s individual technique in this painting, epitomized in the visually distinct and, in parts, uniform brushstrokes, represents an element of design that both transcends Impressionist tendencies and anticipates his disciplined Divisionist paintings, which, by 1888, had reached their maturity in the works completed alongside Seurat.