Pissarro
Achievements: Great French Impressionist painter
Born: July 10, 1830; St Thomas, Danish West Indies.
Died: November 13, 1903; Paris, France (Aged 73)
Field & Discipline: Art; Painter
Language: French.
Father: Abraham Gabriel Pissarro
Mother: Rachel Manzano-Pomie
Siblings: Alfred; Emma
Spouse: Julie Vellay
Children: Lucien; Georges; Felix; Ludovic; Jeanne-Rachel; Jeanne Marguerite
Education: Private school, Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas, Danish West Indies; Secondary school, Passy, France
Major Works:
"The Hermitage at Pontoise" (c 1867)
"Lower Norwood, London, Snow" (1870)
"The Red Roofs, View of a Village in Winter" (1877)
Life & Times:
In 1852 Pissarro met the Danish painter, Frederik Siegfried Georg Melbye, known as Fritz, who encouraged his talent. At the end of the year, the two left for Venezuela. From the seaport of La Guaira, they moved to Caracas, where Melbye bought a house and they set up a studio together. The artistic circle of writers, painters, musicians and intellectuals in Caracas immediately made Pissarro welcome. At the end of 1854 Pissarro returned to St Thomas, determined that he would be an artist. He painted local scenes and developed a very individual style. Cezanne later said of Pissarro that he was fortunate to "be born in the Antilles; there he learned to draw without a master.”
By 1855, Pissarro arrived in Paris, where he attended The Universal Exhibition and saw the work of artists such as Ingres and Delacroix. Melbye had earlier suggested that Corot's paintings might appeal to Pissarro and, when he saw them, he felt an immediate affinity with [visited studio of] Corot*, whose paintings of the Italian countryside reminded him of the Caribbean. He later visited Corot's studio to show his paintings of the West Indies, and was advised to paint French scenes.
Following his natural inclination to paint from nature, in 1858, he moved to Montmorency, a village about ten miles from Paris. In 1859, his picture, "Landscape at Montmorency,” was hung at the Salon. That year he met the nineteen-year old painter, [painted with] Monet* and in 1860 the two went on a painting excursion together to Champigny-sur-Marne. Both were attracted by the work of the Barbizon school and, in particular, the paintings of [influenced by] Millet*.
In 1861, Pissarro met [a pal of] Cezanne*, who was then in despair about his painting and shortly afterwards left Paris to work in his father's bank. When Cezanne reappeared in Paris in 1862, Pissarro encouraged him and gave moral support. Other artists already regarded Pissarro as a guide, even though he was only in his early thirties. Genuinely interested in the work of his fellow artists, who frequented the Cafe Guerbois, where Pissarro would argue with more conservative painters like [knew] Degas* late into the night.
Pissarro met [a pal of] Renoir* in 1863 and found that they shared a love of nature, though Renoir found Pissarro’s intellectualism intimidating. In the same year, his parents returned to live in France and he struck up a relationship with their French maid, Julie Vellay. By the end of 1863 their first son was born. Julie took a job in a flower shop and Pissarro made renewed efforts to interest dealers and collectors in his work. He entered three paintings for the Salon that year, but all were rejected. Soon afterwards, Napoleon III gave permission for the establishment of an alternative salon, the Salon des Refuses. Its first exhibition, in which Pissarro entered his three works, opened to almost universal mockery, the greatest discredit being reserved for [shared failure with] Manet's*, "Le Dejeuner sur l'Herbe.”
In 1865, his daughter was the family moved to Pontoise, about twenty miles from Paris, and Pissarro visited Monet, Renoir and Sisley who were all painting in the nearby forest of Fontainbleu. At last, in 1866, his painting, "Banks of the Marne in Winter,” was accepted at the Salon, and the novelist, [a fan was] Zola* complimented him greatly on the work. In the 1868 Salon, his two pictures showed the influence of [influenced by] Courbet*, who also believed in realism. Times were hard, so they moved to the country area of Louveciennes in 1869. In the same year the Salon accepted only one of his paintings, "The Hermitage, A Landscape.” He was not alone, as Monet and Sisley were also rejected , Manet had only two paintings hung, and Degas only one.
1870 saw the beginning of the Franco-Prussian war so, after having two paintings hung by the Salon, Pissarro and his family went, first to Brittany, then to England, where they found lodgings in south London. In 1871, his work, together with that of Monet, was rejected by the Royal Academy in London.
In 1874, the first Impressionist exhibition was held to universal lack of understanding, so the group decided to hold their own exhibitions, even auctioning their unsold work at the end of the show.
In 1877 Pissarro was introduced to [mentored] Gauguin* who was, at the time working as a stockbroker. Pissarro introduced him to other artists and advised on his technique. During this period, until 1879, he worked with Degas and the American painter [worked with] Cassatt*, who tried to persuade her compatriots to buy Impressionist paintings.
In 1884 he moved his family to Eragny-sur-Epte, two hours away from Paris. Lucien, his eldest son, was now working in Paris in the printing section of an art dealer's and so Pissarro began to met younger artists, among them [influenced by] van Gogh*, [influenced by] Seurat* and [influenced by] Signac*. Influenced by their theories of colour, Pissarro started using the pointillist technique pioneered by Seurat, only to abandon it five years later.
In 1889, his work was favourably received at the Brussels Exhibition and success began to come. 1892 marked a turning point in his career. By this time he was in his sixties and a recurrent eye infection meant that he often couldn’t work out of doors, but at the end of 1893, he completed a series of paintings of Paris.
By 1894 Pissarro was become an icon to young painters in Paris, who named him "pere Pissarro.” [met] Matisse*, a young hopeful, went to him for advice, and it was Pissarro who told the new art dealer, Ambroise Vollard, about the interesting work of Cezanne.
In his last years he met [met] Sickert*, the English artist, in Dieppe. In 1898, Pissarro wrote to Zola to support him at the time of the [supported] Dreyfus* case and travelled to Holland to see an exhibition of Rembrandt's work. Soon after, in 1903, he died in Paris at the age of seventy-three.
Extra Connections: Rothenstein*?
Was influenced by [influenced by] Kropotkin*
He influenced [influenced] Braque*
He met [met] Wilde*
Assessment: One of the great Impressionists.
Oneliner: Camille Pissarro, great Impressionist painter
Bibliography:
- Adler, Kathleen, Camille Pissarro, B T Batsford Ltd., London, 1978.