His Early Life

Jacob Abraham Camille Pissarro, better known as Camille Pissarro, (1830-1903) was born in St Thomas, which was then in Danish possession, in the West Indies. He was a famous painter and printmaker who later became known as a key figure in the history of Impressionism. According to Paul Cezanne, Camille Pissarro would have been the strongest of all the Impressionists if he had continued painting like he was doing in 1870. Cézanne didn’t explain why he liked Pissarro’s early work so much, but he did say that it lost some of its lustrs in the artist’s later work. Pissarro was the only artist to show his work in all eight Impressionist group exhibitions.

Pissarro was the third son of a Jewish merchant of French descent. His father, Abraham Gabriel Pissarro was a Portuguese Sephardic Jew. Pissarro’s family lived in their shop cum house located on Charlotte Amalie, the main street of St. Thomas. His parents sent him to a school in Passy when he w twelve years old. Pissarro showed an early talent for drawing and began to visit the collection of the Louvre. When he returned to his father’s house in St.Thomas when he became 17 years old,

The paintings of Pissarro from the first half of the 1870s are renowned for their strictly controlled compositions, lighter brushwork, and use of a brighter palette applied in discrete patches of unmixed pigments. Pissarro’s goal in these paintings was to capture the sensations he felt while out in nature, as faithfully as possible on canvas. His desire to experiment with different approaches can be seen in the several stylistic alterations he made.

At the end of the 1870s, Pissarro experienced a style crisis as he attempted to represent the appearance of nature with a slew of tiny, comma-like brushstrokes built up in layers on the canvas’s surface. Eventually, Pissarro realized that such compositions lacked clarity, and he wanted to refocus his work.

Pissarro began to create increasingly complicated compositions, such as crowded market scenes with more figures. In 1882, he relocated from Pontoise to the little adjacent village of Osny, then two years later to the Normandy village of Éragny-sur-Epte.

Few of his paintings are completely Pointillist, and in his final decade, Pissarro reverted to a purer Impressionist style, which he attained with improved technical competence, increased confidence in his compositions, and freer brushwork. From 1890 until 1903, he achieved a balance between urban and rural subject matter, limiting his pursuit of rural themes to places near Éragny-sur-Epte, and including portrayals of female nude for the first time.

Much of Pissarro’s art reflects his political views in the themes he chooses. His dedication to the human figure, particularly rural labourers in the countryside around Paris, is unrivalled among Impressionist landscape painters. He was continually engaged in the concept of labour as it connected to agriculture and his creative practice.

Pissarro suffered from a chronic eye infection in his later years, which prohibited him from working outside for much of the year. As a result of his inability, he frequently painted while looking out a hotel room window. Pissarro breathed his last on November 13, 1903, in Paris and is buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery.

His Artistic Influences

Danish painter Fritz Melbye, whom Pissarro met in 1849, encouraged him in his artistic pursuits. Pissarro and Melbye moved to Venezuela from St. Thomas in 1852 and worked and lived there for the following few years. Pissarro returned to Paris in 1855, where he studied at the École des Beaux-Arts and the Académie Suisse and collaborated with painters Camille Corot and Gustave Courbet, improving his skills and experimenting with new methods of art.

Pissarro later became friends with a group of young artists, including Claude Monet and Paul Cézanne, who shared his interests and concerns. The French artistic elite rejected these artists’ work and barred unconventional paintings from official Salon exhibitions.

A group of 15 artists was founded (including Cezanne, Monet, Edouart Manet, Pierre Auguste Renoir, and Degas) by Camille Pissarro in 1873 to provide an alternative to the Salon. Next year, the collective would host its very first show. Because of the show’s unique content and style, critics were taken aback and were forced to reconsider Impressionism as a creative movement.

Post-Impressionist themes and techniques like Pointillism were explored by Pissarro in the 1880s when he returned to his earlier themes. Georges Seurat and Paul Signac became new friends, and he was a fan of Vincent van Gogh from an early age. Pissarro’s departure from Impressionism, while keeping up with his strong passion for innovation, led to the overall downfall of the movement, which he had strongly influenced.

Camille Pissarro’s Famous Artwork

Place du Carrousel, Paris, 1900

Pissarro, renowned for his paintings of country life, began painting urban settings only in his later years when eye issues made it impossible for him to paint outside. He stayed in places where he could see the streets of Rouen, Paris, and other towns from his lodgings. This is one of twenty–eight views of the Tuileries Gardens he painted from a hotel room on the Rue de Rivoli.

Pissarro’s composition conveys the restless movement of the busy metropolis with this sidelong vista, mottled with shade and interrupted on both sides of the picture frame. His fast brushwork appears to imitate the movement shown.

Take a look at the wheels of the carriages and buggies, where scraped circles of paint trace motion. Pissarro’s brush movement not only paints but also instigates the movement of the wheels. This picture, completed more than a quarter-century after the first impressionist exhibition, retains the same freshness as the early impressionist works.

Place du Theatre, 1898

Pissarro began a series of 15 views from the Grand Hotel du Louvre in Paris in late 1897, depicting diverse scenes of the Place du Théâtre Francais, the Avenue de l’Opera, and the rue St Honore, which he completed in the spring of 1898. In a letter to his son, he writes that despite their reputation as ugly, the streets of Paris are dazzling, silvery, and vibrant.

The Place du Theatre Francais is featured prominently in this piece. This is where Avenue de l’Opera splits off. At the very end, a haze surrounds Charles Garnier’s opera theatre. The city is brimming with high-end stores.

The streets have been painted to appear soaked from the rain. The painting includes distant views that shift from perspective to perspective. Pissarro was more interested in representing the city’s everyday life than the iconic views. The tiny human figures, traffic, and fresh leaves of trees in the spring season are all skillfully painted in distinct strokes. He captured the ambience and sunlight to create a striking image.

Versailles road, Louveciennes, 1870

In between the time of autumn 1869 and the summer of 1872, Camille Pissarro created twenty-two canvases capturing the effects of light, seasonal weather, and movement on the Route de Versailles at Louveciennes. On that street, he and his family had rented out a large 18th-century house. However, the Franco-Prussian War and the consequent siege of Paris compelled him to leave Versailles.

This painting from the Versailles series is characterized by realism. The road in front of Pissarro’s house is lit up by alternating bands of light and shade cast by the spring sun. The artwork appears to be a direct replication of the view due to its broad, simplistic approach. However, the two trees in the foreground frame the picture with incredible symmetry, implying that Pissaro altered what he saw to obtain a balanced composition.

The Orchards at Louveciennes

Camille Pissarro’s revolutionary approach to landscape painting established him as a pivotal player in the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist movements of his day. Using a variety of expressive, spontaneous brushstrokes, he captures the dynamism and movement of nature in his light-dappled Plein air paintings.

This amazing portrayal of rural Louveciennes is not an exception. Pissaro’s observation of details is a remarkable feature of his artwork, and it’s prominent in the motion of two women in this watercolour on graphite masterpiece.

Landscape Ile De France

The Post-Impressionism movement in art marks this beautiful oil canvas of Pissaro. It’s quite evident from the Landscape Ile de France series, where Camille Pissaro deviated from the subtle use of colours; rather he focused on vivid colours to represent the rural lifestyle of France.

To boost the brightness of the items in the picture, corresponding colours were fragmented, and brushstrokes were blended. As a result, the artwork was obviously associated with French peasants in his area while also fitting in harmony with the surroundings. As a result, the reality of day-to-day tasks is revealed. These pictures communicated and resonated with the people in a way that impressionist artworks never did.

The Bell Tower of Bazincourt, 1885

There are forty paintings by Camille Pissarro depicting the charming village of Bazincourt, located about fifty miles northwest of Paris and close to Eragny, where he spent the last two decades of his life. A brilliant sky backlights this picture, highlighting the village church and throwing a pattern of dramatic shadows in the forefront. When he signed his work, Pissaro used a bright red colour to stand out against the lush greenery.

The River Oise Near Pontoise, 1873

The painting belongs to the period of Impressionism when visual art was enhanced by using colours and incorporating real-life circumstances. Pissarro was keen to discover a suitable manner for conveying his ideas.

The factory across the river from Pissarro’s home in Pontoise was the subject of several of the artist’s paintings. Even though the buildings significantly altered the scenery and river, Pissaro depicts them here as beautifully interwoven into the backdrop. His use of rapid touches of colour to capture the brilliant light and the flowers in the foreground is as contemporary as his subject matter.

Orchard in Bloom, Louveciennes, 1872

Camille Pissarro’s exquisite oil on canvas picture titled “Orchard in Bloom, Louveciennes” in 1872 was displayed at the first Impressionist art exhibition, which took place in Paris in 1874. It was the first of five pieces in the show that Pissarro had on the display, most likely due to his links with the piece.

Pissarro lived in Louveciennes, but he escaped France for England in 1870, following the commencement of the Franco-Prussian War. When Pissarro returned home in 1871, he discovered that his home had been seized by soldiers during the war, destroying many of his works. Pissarro painted this picture after returning to France, an optimistic painting praising springtime, fresh life, and possibly the optimism of the future.

Apple Harvest, 1888

While working on the apple harvest on a lovely autumn day, four laborers stop to look at a single tree perched far above the ground. As the man shakes the branches with a long grapple hook, three women come running to gather the apples that have fallen from the tree’s welcoming shade.

While adopting the Pointillist technique and concepts of neo-impressionist color theory, Pissarro achieves a sparkling surface that precisely captures the heat of an early autumn afternoon in this painting. Apple picking in the French countryside is stylized and beautifully balanced with dots of crimson, blue, pink, lavender, orange, and yellow.

Charing Cross Bridge, London, 1890

Neo-Impressionism finally turned Pissarro away since he felt its system was stifling his creativity. After years of experimenting with this theory and then giving up on it, he no longer considered himself a neo-impressionist.

He found it difficult to remain loyal to his feelings while conveying life and movement in his drawings. It was also impossible for him to remain true to nature’s random yet beautiful effects, giving each drawing a unique personality.

However, his work grew more subtle, his colour scheme more refined, and his painting firmer once he reverted to his previous style. Pissarro embraced old age with greater mastery, and the painting of Charing Cross Bridge is the proof of that.

The Artist’s Garden at Eragny, 1898

Camille Pissarro created the Artist’s Garden at Eragny in 1898. The portrait exhibits great attention to detail, especially in terms of how natural light and colour contrast each other. The artwork depicts a young peasant woman gardening.

All of Pissarro’s paintings were done in oil on canvas. He was also one of the few artists who successfully combined colour and light in his portraits. Since he spent the majority of his time in French villages, he incorporated natural elements into his works. He made it a point to depict the landscapes from where the peasants worked, as seen in several of his paintings, including The Artist’s Garden at Eragny.

Knocke village, 1894

Between the mid-1880s and the early 1890s, the Impressionist Camille Pissarro experimented with Neo-Impressionist concepts. Dissatisfied with what he called romantic Impressionism, he researched Pointillism, which he described as scientific Impressionism, before reverting to a purer Impressionism in his final decade of life.

Unlike his Impressionist contemporaries, who painted portraits of city dwellers, he chose to depict rural life as lived by peasants. Pissaro employed the light-on-color approach in his paintings to make his work more natural. At one point, he traveled to Caracas to study art, where he learned about nature, light, and color, all of which influenced his artistic ideas.

Pissaro’s art was also influenced by Gustave Courbet, and it is clear that Pissarro stole from his colleague Gustave, who was a Realist. It’s no surprise, then, that the two painters had similar ideas, particularly on how they strove to glorify peasants, their hard work, and social activities back in the countryside. In his paintings, Pissarro mixed Impressionism and Realism approaches, which is evident in this painting.

Washerwoman, Study, 1880

Between 1874 and1886, Pissarro took part in and helped organize Impressionist exhibitions. Renoir, Monet, and Degas were among a group of artists in Paris in the 1870s who came together because of their disdain for traditional creative practices. Pissarro was the only artist to attend all 8 Impressionist exhibitions, making him one of the most creative, thoughtful, and committed members of his generation.

The majority of the pieces Pissarro submitted to the 1882 Impressionist exhibition were figure paintings. The local peasants who had energized his rural landscapes took monumental shape, signaling a shift in his artistic focus. Marie Larchevêque, a mother of four in her fifties and a neighbor of Pissarro’s in Pontoise, posed for Laveuse, étude, (Washerwoman, Study).

Barges at Pontoise, 1876

Despite having a studio in the city, Pissarro preferred to spend much of his time on the outskirts. Like many of his contemporaries, he preferred to paint pictures of village life and the natural environment in the open air rather than in the studio.

While living at Pontoise for several years, Pissarro painted various views of the barges that ferried goods along the Oise River to the booming port there in 1876. It’s the only canvas where you can see the boats up close and personal, and they’re vibrantly highlighted with strong orange and green strokes. The handling is so fluid that it’s hard to find the figure on the barge’s prow on the left.

Two decades later, in his depictions of port traffic in Rouen and Paris, Pissarro would return to this theme.

Factory on the Oise at Pontoise, 1873

The daily lives of French peasants inspired Pissarro’s artwork. His interest in conducting empirical research on the impact of light on colours and the atmosphere became a key impressionist motif later on. Also, he was influenced by Gustave Courbet’s work, which emphasized showing the true physical aspect of the items he experimented with. Gustave, unlike other impressionists, lived in the countryside, which encouraged Pissarro and helped other painters who were interested in his work.

The silver light on the artwork, which was produced during the impressionist period, represents the atmospheric situation. The surface is represented by the free brushwork, which includes the river, sky, and field. This outstanding piece demonstrates the artist’s technique and his ability to integrate colours to showcase the surface. The picture depicts a factory that Pissarro inserted to emphasize features that the Romantics overlooked.

Hampton Court Green, 1891

With improved technical skill and newfound confidence in his compositions, Pissarro returned to a more pure Impressionist style in the last decade of his life. Between 1890 and 1903, he found a middle ground between urban and rural themes, focusing on the area near Éragny-Sur-Epte for his rural explorations. Pissarro was busy until the end of his life despite having the eye disease dacryocystitis. He frequently visited his son Lucien in England. This very painting is a vivid portrayal of Hampton Court of London.

Countryside near Grez-sur-Loing, 1889

Moreover, the desire to grow or develop was another tactic he employed, particularly when he chose isolation over other impressionists. As a result, he invented new styles of painting that younger painters would subsequently adopt. By reducing the number of canvases he used, Pissarro developed a less laborious way of painting. Overall, Pissarro led a fruitful and genuine lifestyle that inspired many artists.

Landscape at Saint-Charles, near Gisors, Sunset (1891)

In this painting, Pissarro uses pointillism and divisionism, a technique pioneered by artists such as Georges Seurat. Pissarro changed Seurat’s technique, with broader brushstrokes, to create a lighter tone to depict sunlight in this painting.

This painting was sold Durand-Ruel, Paris in 1912. After changing a few hands, this painting is now housed by Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute since 1955.

Port of Rouen, Unloading Wood (1898)

This painting of Port of Rouen shows a change of setting by Pissarro that was common in his later paintings.

His portrayal of a port, a cityscape, during a busy day’s work with light tonal colours was a different type of painting from what Pissarro worked on earlier in his career.

Deux femmes causant au bord de la mer, Saint Thomas (Two women chatting by the sea, St. Thomas)

Two women chatting by the sea, St Thomas was painted by Camille Pissarro in 1856. The original can be seen at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, USA. Many of the artist’s paintings have fetched millions in the secondary market. His style of using loose brushstrokes was later discarded by the painter in favour of pointillism. It is said that he approached Paul Seurat for guidance as the latter had already mastered this technique. Pissarro was born in St. Thomas in the Caribbean which is the setting for this artwork.

Another famous painting set in the beautiful backwaters of the Caribbean island was A creek in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. The painting has a beautiful tone so reminiscent of evening scenes by the artist. Catch a glimpse of products based off of his wonderful artwork here at our store.

Court Case involving a Pissarro Painting

US Supreme Court is to determine the fate of the $30mn Pissarro painting looted by the Nazis: The 1897 Pissarro painting ‘ Rue Saint-Honore in the Afternoon, Effect Of Rain’ is at the heart of a long legal battle with international ramifications. The painting is now estimated to be worth around $30 million. It is said that this painting once belonged to Lilly Cassirer Neubauer, a prominent German Jewish family. In 1939, Nazis forced Neubauer to hand it over to them for a pittance. In return for the painting, she was given a visa to leave Germany. The Neubauer family lost track of the painting after WWII and accepted $13000 from the German Government in 1958. However, they did not waive rights for the painting.

The painting changed hands several times before ending up with the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid. It had been acquired in 1976 by Baron Hans-Heinrich Thyssen Bornemisza, heir to the Thyssen industrial group. Claude Cassirer, Neubauer’s grandson, discovered the painting that was on display in Madrid in 2000. He launched legal efforts in Spain and California to recover it. Later, he died in 2010 at the age of 89 and his children pursued the legal challenge. They suffered defeat in Madrid and California and the legal battle has now reached the Supreme Court.

The crux of the matter is that under Spanish law, a purchaser is not required to return an item if he was not aware at the time of acquiring that it had an illegal origin and he was in procession for at least 6 years. At no point was the Baron’s title to the painting nor his good faith in its acquisition was called into question, according to the museum. However, under California Law, a looted or stolen item cannot be passed on even if it was purchased in good faith. The Court has to decide which law should apply to this case.