Although possibly not recognized at first glance, the painting above, from the mid 1880s, shows the clear influence of French Impressionism. Unlike Monet and Renior who painted more idyllic landscapes from popular tourist destinations with bright, bold colors, there was another version of impressionism being practiced as well. Camille Pissarro took many study trips to paint the French countryside, but his focus was mainly on the small villages and farm towns, the out-of-the-way places that other artists considered not worthy of painting. Pissarro painted many of these with more earthy, muted colors. This painting by Wahlberg is within that Impressionist tradition. It has the loose brushwork and Impressionist techniques, but also the subtler tones and subject matter that were typical of Pissarro's paintings.

     The painting depicts Gargilesse-Dampierre, a commune in the Indre department in central France. It is situated near the confluence of the Gargilesse stream and the river Creuse. This painting shows a view just north of the Gargilesse stream with the backs of a row of homes facing the stream and a southern view in the distance depicting the 12th century Château de Gargilesse and the spire of Église Saint-Laurent et Notre-Dame through a bank of trees. About the time this painting was done, the population in the village had grown to it's maximum residents at 896. Today there are less than 300 people who reside in the village. Because of ts classical charm it is sometimes referred to as, "the most beautiful village of France."

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     Alfred Wahlberg was a visual artist born in 1834 in Stockholm. His father was a painter and his mother worked with carving. Wahlberg learned his father's profession as a child, but became a student at Royal Swedish Academy of Music after showing precocious musical talent. He studied piano and clarinet at the academy and joined the orchestra Göta gardes musikkår. He received preparatory education in art at the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts at the same time, although he never became a real student there.
    In 1857 Wahlberg studied at the Art Academy in Düsseldorf. For a time he was a student of Hans Fredrik Gude, and later became associated with the Düsseldorf school of painting. He also made study trips to the Netherlands and Belgium.

     Wahlberg moved to Paris in 1866 and remained a resident of France for most of his life. In 1868 he displayed two paintings at the Paris Salon. These two paintings mark Wahlberg's transition from a Düsseldorf technique to the then modern French technique of Impressionism.

     Wahlberg earned success and was awarded with medals at the Paris Salon in 1870 and 1872. His painting, "Landscape from Vaxholm" in 1872 (Nationamuseum in Stockholm) is considered one of the first Impressionist paintings done by a non-French artist. Wahlberg is also credited with being the first artist to bring Impressionism to Sweden. He was granted the title Knight of the Legion of Honor in 1874 by the French state, and the title was upgraded to Officer in 1878. At the 1878 World's Fair in Paris, Wahlberg was recognized with a first class medal. After several extended stays in Paris the artist received the title of deputy professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm in 1880.
    A memorial exhibition was held in 1907 at the Art Academy in Sockholm where the artist was described thus, "He was a poet and a charmer, a worshiper of nature and a seeker of beauty." Works by Alfred Wahlberg were included in the Swedish Exhibition of 1916 held under the auspices of the Brooklyn Museum, the Copley Society of Boston, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh, the Detroit Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the City Art Museum in St. Louis, the John Herron Art Institute in Indianapolis, and the Toledo Museum of Art.

     The artist is represented in these public institutions:

• The Metropolitan Museum in New York

• The Finnish National Gallery

• Prins Eugens Waldemarsudde

• Statens Museum for Kunst (The Danish National Gallery)

• The Royal Academy Art Collection, Stockholm

• The Brooklyn Museum

• The Chicago Art Institute

• The British Museum

• Copenhagen Art Museum

• The Art Museums of Bergen

• Hallwyl Museum

• Gothenburg Art Museum

• Bohusläns Museum

• Sörmlands Museum

• Eskilstuna Museum