28th Aug, 2024
Camille Pissarro’s “White Frost” was a key work in the Impressionist movement. It was one of five paintings he exhibited in 1874, despite initial public criticism. The painting’s depiction of a winter landscape, with its soft tones and short brushstrokes, was revolutionary for its time.
Camille Pissarro was the only artist to have participated in all seven Impressionist Exhibitions, with thirty-eight paintings on display during the Fourth Impressionist Exhibition in Paris in April 1879. Prominent artists like Renoir, Sisley, and Cézanne declined to take part, feeling that they were not given enough credit.
A youthful Paul Cézanne’s work was noticed by Camille Pissarro in 1861 while he was touring studios in Paris. Pissarro saw the quiet and dejected student’s promise and gave him encouragement, which resulted in a friendship that was crucial to nineteenth-century art. Pissarro and Cézanne had a mutually beneficial friendship in which Cézanne taught him valuable lessons as well.
Woman and Child at the Well, painted in the rural Éragny village where Camille Pissarro and his family made their home in 1883, is a reflection of his continued interest in the ordinary lives of peasants. Ludovic Rodo Pissarro, Pissarro’s fourth son, and a domestic servant from his home are probably depicted in the scenario.
Camille Pissarro’s Boulevard Montmartre at Night is a striking portrayal of Parisian urban life, created during the later years of his career when he shifted his focus from rural landscapes to cityscapes. Painted from his room at the Grand Hôtel de Russie in 1897, this work captures the bustling Boulevard Montmartre on a wet night.
In late 1897, Camille Pissarro rented a room at the Hôtel du Louvre, offering him expansive views of the Rue Saint-Honoré, the Avenue de l’Opéra, and the Place du Théâtre Français. Unlike the enclosed funnel-like views of the Boulevard Montmartre, these open and spacious scenes presented new challenges.
In The Red Roofs, Corner of a Village, Winter Effect, Pissarro depicts a small cluster of dwellings in an orchard that are partially concealed by an intricate web of tree trunks and branches, making it difficult for the viewer’s eye to focus on the buildings.
Paralleling Monet’s Haystacks and Waterlilies series, Pissarro’s collection of Paris paintings from the late 1890s, including the Boulevard Montmartre, Gare Saint-Lazare, and Jardin des Tuileries, represented the height of Impressionism.
Inspired by Claude Monet’s series paintings, Pissarro produced a noteworthy series of paintings in 1896 that featured the harbor and bridges of Rouen. He went to Rouen twice in search of some fresh air that year. He painted The Great Bridge at Rouen, Rainy Weather, on his second visit in September while lodging at the Hotel d’Angleterre.
The lively haying season at Éragny, where Camille Pissarro resided with his family from 1884 until he died in 1903, is captured in La Récolte des Foins, Éragny. In this piece, Pissarro, who was restless and always looking for new subjects in his latter years, adopted a pointillism style.
Pissarro’s use of color and technique is essential in Kitchen Garden with Trees in Flower, Spring, Pontoise (1877). Instead of working the paint slowly and heavily to achieve a smooth finish, he worked the paint quickly to produce discrete dashes of pure pigment.