Self Portrait  (1896)

Camille Pissarro prints bring the gentle light of French Impressionism into your home, from snowy village rooftops to busy Paris boulevards seen from above. Pissarro was called the "dean of the Impressionist painters" and was the only artist to show at all eight Impressionist exhibitions. This collection gathers art prints of his country lanes, harvests and orchards, his views of Rouen and Paris, and his portraits of peasants and family.

About Camille Pissarro

Camille Pissarro was born on 10 July 1830 on the island of Saint Thomas, then in the Danish West Indies. As a young man he studied the old masters at the Louvre and admired Courbet, Corot, Daubigny and Millet, and the Danish painter Fritz Melbye was an early teacher.

In 1873 he helped found the cooperative society of artists that held the first Impressionist exhibition the next year, and he became the group's steadying, encouraging center. Paul Cézanne called him "a father for me", and he was one of Paul Gauguin's teachers. He was the only artist to show at all eight Impressionist exhibitions, from 1874 to 1886, and at the age of 54 he took up the Neo-Impressionist dot technique alongside Georges Seurat and Paul Signac.

From 1884 Pissarro lived with his wife Julie and their large family at Éragny-sur-Epte, helped by a loan from Monet to buy the house. In later years he painted series of city views from hotel windows in Rouen, Paris, Le Havre and Dieppe, and visited London several times. He died in Paris on 13 November 1903.

Style and Subjects

Pissarro painted ordinary people in natural settings, "without artifice or grandeur". His country pictures show orchards, hayfields, kitchen gardens and village lanes around Pontoise, Louveciennes and Éragny, with peasants at work and rest. His brushwork is soft and broken, and his color is gentle, built from many small touches.

In the 1890s he turned to cities, painting the Boulevard Montmartre, the Avenue de l'Opéra and the bridges and quays of Rouen in every kind of weather, from spring sun to winter rain. For a few years he also worked in the dotted, Pointillist manner of Seurat.

Famous Works

• The Banks of the Oise near Pontoise (1873). A calm river view from his Pontoise years.
• Red Roofs, Corner of a Village, Winter (1877), Musée d'Orsay, Paris. Village houses glimpsed through bare trees on a winter hillside.
• The Harvest, Pontoise (1881), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Peasants bringing in the harvest under a wide sky.
• Hay Harvest at Éragny (1901), National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Haymakers at work near his home.
• Steamboats in the Port of Rouen (1896), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The busy harbor seen from a hotel window.
• Pont Boieldieu in Rouen, Rainy Weather (1896), Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto. A bridge and quays glistening in the rain.
• The Boulevard Montmartre on a Winter Morning (1897), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. A Paris boulevard seen from above in cold morning light.

Decorating with Pissarro Prints

Pissarro's orchards, harvests and village lanes suit kitchens, dining rooms and country-style living rooms. Their soft greens, golds and earthy reds bring a calm, rural feeling and look good in natural wood or simple gilt frames.

His Paris and Rouen city views work well in a hallway, home office or modern living room, and a pair of Boulevard Montmartre views in different seasons makes an elegant set.

FAQ

What art movement was Camille Pissarro part of?

Pissarro was a founding member of French Impressionism and later worked in the Neo-Impressionist style with Seurat and Signac. He is often called the "dean of the Impressionists".

What is Camille Pissarro's most famous painting?

His Boulevard Montmartre series of 1897, showing the Paris boulevard in different weather and times of day, is among his best known, along with Red Roofs (1877) in the Musée d'Orsay.

Where can I see Pissarro's original paintings?

The Musée d'Orsay in Paris, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the National Gallery in London, the National Gallery of Canada and the Art Gallery of Ontario all hold important works.

How can you recognize a Camille Pissarro painting?

Look for soft, broken brushstrokes, gentle natural light and everyday scenes of country life or busy city streets, often seen from a slightly raised viewpoint.

Why is Pissarro called the father of Impressionism?

He was the oldest of the group, the only one to show at all eight Impressionist exhibitions, and a generous mentor. Cézanne called him "a father for me", and he also taught Gauguin.

Related Artists

• Claude Monet — fellow founder of Impressionism, who helped him buy his house at Éragny
• Paul Cézanne — painted alongside him at Pontoise and called him a father figure
• Georges Seurat — whose dot technique Pissarro adopted in the 1880s
• Paul Gauguin — one of the painters Pissarro taught
• Lucien Pissarro — his eldest son, also a painter