Author:

Klaus H. Karl

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ISBN: 978-1-68325-676-2

Klaus H. Karl

 

 

 

 

Camille

Pissarro

(1830-1903)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“What Pissarro says is true – the effects colours produce through their harmonies or dischords should be boldly exaggerated.”

— Vincent Van Gogh

Contents

Biography

The Impressionists and Academic Painting

The Artist

List of Illustrations

Biography

1830: Jacob Camille Pissarro is born in St Thomas in the West Indies, to French Jewish parents.

1842: He is sent to a boarding school just outside Paris to receive an early education, where his first signs of artistic talent become apparent.

1847: Returns home to St Thomas to work in the family business, although he devotes much of his free time to drawing and sketching.

1852: Having little interest in the family business, Pissarro, accompanied by Danish painter Fritz Melbye, heads to Venezuela, where he works as an artist for two years.

1855: Arrives in Paris where he settles down to live, and visits the Exposition Universelle (World’s Fair), which includes a large art section. He is impressed by Jean-Baptise Camille Corot’s landscape paintings, and begins studying at such institutions as the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and Académie Suisse, where he forms a friendship with Monet.

1859: Sends works to the official Salon, where he is admitted to exhibit.

1860: Moves in with Julie Vellay, his future wife.

1861: Meets Guillaumin and Cézanne at the Charles Académie Suisse.

1863: Gets rejected by the Salon, and exhibits at the Salon des Refusés.

1866: Pissarro and his family settle down in Pontoise, where he would work frequently with Cézanne. During this time, he fully develops his independent Impressionist style. Meets Manet in Café Guerbois in Paris. Gets his works admitted to the Salon. Pissarro is singled out in a review of the Salon by the young literary figure Emile Zola.

1869: Pissarro and his family move to Louveciennes.

1870: Participates in his last official Salon. During the Franco-Prussian war, Pissarro resides in Brittany for a short period, and then seeks refuge in London with Monet. He leaves all his paintings behind in Louveciennes, most of which will be destroyed.

1871: Marries Julie Vellay, with whom he has seven children, five of which would later become artists.

1872: Forms a collaboration with Cézanne, which marks an important part of art history.

1874: Takes part in the first Impressionist Exhibition, of which he was a key instigator. Pissarro is the only artist of the group to participate in all eight of these exhibitions. Joins Monet in a project to organise independent Impressionist exhibitions.

1876: Paints The Garden of Les Mathurins at Pontoise. He is among the first artists to divide colours, which is evident in this painting. Eugène Murer, the owner of a restaurant on the Boulevard Voltaire, asks Renoir and Pissarro to paint the interior of the restaurant’s dining-room, where he would feed groups of artists every week, free of charge.

1880: He begins to add figures to his work, giving them a more decorative character.

1884: Pissarro is financially stable enough to buy a house in Éragny, where he will remain until his death.

1885: Experiments with new techniques and approaches, as he meets with a younger generation of artists, searching for fresh ideas. He is particularly attracted to Seurat’s style, which he tries to adopt, but with limited success.

1892: Large retrospective of Pissarro’s works, finally allowing him to gain international recognition.

1903: November 13th, Pissarro dies in Paris at the age of seventy-three.