Camille Pissarro

Impressionism

Pissarro was the only artist to take part in all eight Impressionist exhibitions: a father figure of the group.

💡 Did you know? He was the only one to take part in all eight Impressionist exhibitions.

mentor and teacher

Pissarro was a patient teacher and mentor to Cézanne, Gauguin and many others.

💡 Did you know? Cézanne proudly called himself „a pupil of Pissarro“: the older painter taught him open-air painting.

country life and villages

Later he also painted busy Parisian boulevards.

💡 Did you know? Unlike the city Impressionists, Pissarro most liked to paint peasants, fields and quiet villages.

St Thomas (Caribbean)

As a young man he went to France.

💡 Did you know? Pissarro was born on the Caribbean island of St Thomas; the son of Jewish-Portuguese merchants.

Pointillism

Later he returned to his freer manner.

💡 Did you know? Around 1885 Pissarro briefly adopted Seurat's strict dot technique but soon returned to a freer style.

1903

Pissarro died in Paris in 1903; a committed anarchist, he remained a politically engaged artist all his life.

💡 Did you know? Several of his children also became painters.

Pont Boieldieu in Rouen, Rainy Weather

Painted around 1896.

💡 Did you know? In old age Pissarro often painted from hotel windows: the rain over the bridge gleams on the wet cobbles.

Hay Harvest at Éragny

Painted around 1901.

💡 Did you know? Pissarro spent his final years in Éragny, painting the field labour around him again and again.

The Red Roofs, Côte Saint-Denis at Pontoise, Winter Effect

Around 1877: red tiled roofs among bare trees in winter.

💡 Did you know? Between bare trees the red roofs of a village glow: a masterpiece of his open-air painting.

Steamboats in the Port of Rouen

Painted around 1896.

💡 Did you know? Pissarro recorded industry too: steam, ships and working harbours.

Boulevard Montmartre, Mardi Gras

Around 1897: a busy Parisian boulevard, painted from a window.

💡 Did you know? From a hotel window Pissarro painted the same boulevard at all times of day: here amid the carnival crowd.

The Banks of the Oise near Pontoise

Painted around 1873.

💡 Did you know? In Pontoise Pissarro often worked side by side with the young Cézanne.

The Côte des Bœufs, Pontoise

Painted around 1877.

💡 Did you know? A dense tangle of bare trees: Pissarro loved such „unpicturesque“ corners of the landscape.

The House of the Deaf Woman at Éragny

Painted around 1886.

💡 Did you know? Even a plain farmhouse became a worthy subject in Pissarro's hands.

Rue Saint-Honoré in the Afternoon, Effect of Rain

Painted around 1897.

💡 Did you know? A Paris street in the rain: Pissarro caught the shimmering light of the wet metropolis.

The Little Factory

Painted around 1868.

💡 Did you know? Pissarro did not shy from the modern factory as a subject: an early view of the industrial landscape.

The Harvest, Pontoise

Painted around 1881.

💡 Did you know? Peasants at harvest: Pissarro's favourite theme of simple country life.

Boulevard Montmartre, Spring

Painted around 1897.

💡 Did you know? The same street as in the carnival picture: now in bright spring light.

Camille Pissarro

Camille Pissarro (1830 to 1903) was a French painter and a founding figure of Impressionism, famous for his landscapes and city views.

💡 Did you know? Pissarro was the „father“ of the Impressionists: the only one to join all eight of their exhibitions, and teacher of Cézanne and Gauguin.