Paul émile Pissarro, Camille’s youngest son, was born in Eragny in 1884. He was brought up in the artistic environment of the family home there, and, encouraged by his father, began drawing at an early age. Paul émile’s godfather was Claude Monet, who became his teacher and close friend, particularly after Camille’s death in 1903. 

By the 1920s, Paul émile had become an established Post-Impressionist artist in his own right, sharing a studio with Kees Van Dongen and spending the summer months escaping from Paris with him and Maurice de Vlaminck. In 1924, Paul émile moved to Lyons-la-Foret, a small town near Eragny, where he painted his surroundings with great pleasure, returning again and again to the placid waters of the River Epte, winding its way among willows, meadows and hills.