(Santo Tomas 1830 - Paris 1903)
Camille Pissarro was a French Impressionist painter who played a prominent role as an artistic guide of his time.
After receiving a general education in Paris, he was employed in his father's trading office in his hometown until 1852, when he left home to move to Venezuela as an assistant to the Danish painter Fritz Melbyl.
In 1855, his family moved to Paris, and he soon reunited with them. The most important painters in Paris at that time were Corot and Courbet, and Pissarro had to endure their influence. Around 1866, he joined Manet, Monet, Rendir, Sisley, and Guillaumin, a group of students influenced by Courbet, from whose experiments and discoveries regarding values distinct from chiaroscuro, Impressionism was born. From 1868 to 1871, Pissarro lived in Louveciennes, which was on the line of the Prussian advance towards Paris, and after the Germans occupied his house, they destroyed all his paintings. Meanwhile, Pissarro had taken refuge in England, settling in London, in Sydenham, where he painted numerous landscapes. He and Claude Monet were invited to present their works at the Royal Academy, but only as distinguished foreigners, since independent English artists were treated in London just as Monet and Pissarro were treated in Paris.
Year after year, the Salon refused to exhibit his works, and along with other Impressionists, they decided to exhibit them in another venue on their own (1874-1886). However, before this decision, some of his landscapes were accepted in the Salons of 1859, 1864, 1865, 1866, 1868, 1869, and 1870.
Until 1866, he painted with a sober palette, in the manner that prevailed among painters influenced by Corot and Courbet. His works from this period, with austere greens and somber grays, constitute what could be called his black manner. His progressive ascent towards full light and abrupt juxtaposition of colors was due to the influence of Manet.
Back in France, he settled in Pontoise, where he lived from 1872 to 1882. During this time, he frequently communicated with Vignon and Cézanne, working alongside them and acquiring a brilliant color palette, suggested by Cézanne's. Established in Pontoise, he ceased sending works to the Salon and instead exhibited in all the independent exhibitions, actively helping to manifest Impressionism.
Pissarro is the painter of rugged nature and rustic life. He never sought rare motifs or exceptional horizons, nor did he beautify things. For this reason, his works caused repulsion at the time, as the public considered them vulgar and coarse, unable to comprehend the charm of that natural simplicity. In 1883, he settled in Eragny-Razincourt, and having fallen ill with vision problems and unable to endure the elements, he moved his residence to Rouen, dedicating himself to painting urban scenes, domestic interiors, and other similar subjects, and later moving to Paris, where he increased his already large production with admirable views of the great city.
Pissarro worked extensively in oil, watercolor, etching, and lithography. Among his works, the following deserve mention: Landscape of Montmorency, Banks of the Marne, Route from Cachalas to Roche Guyon, Autumn, The Road to Louveciennes, Effect of Snow, Banks of the Oise, Path through the Fields, Apple Harvest, View of Rouen…
Pissarro is represented in the Caillebotte Room of Luxembourg, and in almost all collections of Impressionist painting. Several of his best works are in the Durand-Ruel Collection in Paris.
Camille Pissarro was a French Impressionist painter who played a prominent role as an artistic guide of his time.
After receiving a general education in Paris, he was employed in his father's trading office in his hometown until 1852, when he left home to move to Venezuela as an assistant to the Danish painter Fritz Melbyl.
In 1855, his family moved to Paris, and he soon reunited with them. The most important painters in Paris at that time were Corot and Courbet, and Pissarro had to endure their influence. Around 1866, he joined Manet, Monet, Rendir, Sisley, and Guillaumin, a group of students influenced by Courbet, from whose experiments and discoveries regarding values distinct from chiaroscuro, Impressionism was born. From 1868 to 1871, Pissarro lived in Louveciennes, which was on the line of the Prussian advance towards Paris, and after the Germans occupied his house, they destroyed all his paintings. Meanwhile, Pissarro had taken refuge in England, settling in London, in Sydenham, where he painted numerous landscapes. He and Claude Monet were invited to present their works at the Royal Academy, but only as distinguished foreigners, since independent English artists were treated in London just as Monet and Pissarro were treated in Paris.
Year after year, the Salon refused to exhibit his works, and along with other Impressionists, they decided to exhibit them in another venue on their own (1874-1886). However, before this decision, some of his landscapes were accepted in the Salons of 1859, 1864, 1865, 1866, 1868, 1869, and 1870.
Until 1866, he painted with a sober palette, in the manner that prevailed among painters influenced by Corot and Courbet. His works from this period, with austere greens and somber grays, constitute what could be called his black manner. His progressive ascent towards full light and abrupt juxtaposition of colors was due to the influence of Manet.
Back in France, he settled in Pontoise, where he lived from 1872 to 1882. During this time, he frequently communicated with Vignon and Cézanne, working alongside them and acquiring a brilliant color palette, suggested by Cézanne's. Established in Pontoise, he ceased sending works to the Salon and instead exhibited in all the independent exhibitions, actively helping to manifest Impressionism.
Pissarro is the painter of rugged nature and rustic life. He never sought rare motifs or exceptional horizons, nor did he beautify things. For this reason, his works caused repulsion at the time, as the public considered them vulgar and coarse, unable to comprehend the charm of that natural simplicity. In 1883, he settled in Eragny-Razincourt, and having fallen ill with vision problems and unable to endure the elements, he moved his residence to Rouen, dedicating himself to painting urban scenes, domestic interiors, and other similar subjects, and later moving to Paris, where he increased his already large production with admirable views of the great city.
Pissarro worked extensively in oil, watercolor, etching, and lithography. Among his works, the following deserve mention: Landscape of Montmorency, Banks of the Marne, Route from Cachalas to Roche Guyon, Autumn, The Road to Louveciennes, Effect of Snow, Banks of the Oise, Path through the Fields, Apple Harvest, View of Rouen…
Pissarro is represented in the Caillebotte Room of Luxembourg, and in almost all collections of Impressionist painting. Several of his best works are in the Durand-Ruel Collection in Paris.
