Camille Pissarro:
Patriarch of the Impressionist Movement, Part V
by Gwen Howlett, for Fine Art Registry®
Camille Pissarro (1830-1903)
The oldest of the French Impressionists, Camille Pissarro, was in fact born thousands of miles away from France. Saint Thomas in the Virgin Islands is the birthplace of this talented, gentle man. His family ran the local general store and was prosperous enough to send their young son to Paris to study. Camille won immense praise for his promising artistic talent at this time. However, he had obligated himself to return home in 1847 in order to assist in running the family business. Camille met his responsibility however in 1885, after much persuasion, he convinced his parents to let him return to the city of lights in order to follow his dream of becoming a painter. He arrived in Paris the year of the great "World's Fair" with exhibits in honor of Ingres, Delacroix and Courbet's compositions displayed in the "Pavilion of Realism". The works exhibited were renderings of peasants and rural workers that shocked the public and the critics, but intrigued and touched Pissarro in a deeply personal way. One feels that this good and tender hearted man had a special sympathy for his subjects. He respected the labor of farm women and in his painting Haying at Eragny (1889) his depiction relays his fervent feelings portraying their arduous endeavors.
Haying at Eragny by Camille Pissarro
(Courtesy of Wikipedia)
His generously applied paint, at times using a palette knife, controlled brush strokes and fresh palette produced solid constructed forms in comparison to that of Renoir's figures in landscape settings. Pissarro's figures come to life more clearly from the background, in spite of the fact that his brushstrokes are similar to that of Renoir's. His works reveal more of a sober and caring attitude, revealing his sympathetic nature toward his figurative subjects and landscape paintings, directly in contrast to the shimmering gaiety of Monet or Renior's compositions.
Art by Camille Pissarro
(Courtesy of Wikipedia)
Prescribed formal education was extremely important to Camille Pissarro but just as important was meeting and sharing ideas with his younger contemporaries such as Monet, Renior, Cezanne and Sisley. The new and revolutionary ways of painting set aside the past traditional methods and stimulated his fertile mind. Perhaps one of his most significant supporters was Emile Zola, the much accredited journalist of the era, who was instrumental in helping build his career.
Pissarro left France with his friend Claude Monet, and traveled to London attempting to escape the Franco-Prussian war. While in London they were greatly influenced by the landscape paintings of John Constable and J.M.W. Turner. Their unique style soon would evolve into what later would be recognized as the Impressionism genre'. Upon returning to his home near Paris, Pissarro discovered, to his dismay, that almost all of his paintings had been destroyed by the Prussians.
Self Portrait (1873) by Camille Pissarro
(Courtesy of Wikipedia)
Pissarro married a maid in his household by the name of Julie Vellay and they had eight children together, one of which died at birth and a daughter that passed away at age nine. All of the surviving children painted and the oldest son Lucien ultimately became a follower of William Morris, poet and artist.
Camille Pissarro the elder statesman of the Impressionist painters became a revered advisor to the up and coming artists' of the day. It is evident that he was highly esteemed and loved as a generous friend and a patient, wise counselor. He sold very few of his paintings during his lifetime but by 2005, some of his works were selling for two to four million dollars. Pissarro passed away in Paris on November 13, 1903 and will forever be honored as the Patriarch of the French Impressionist Movement.
— by Gwen Howlett | March 1, 2010
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