Artist Camille Pissarro was a French Impressionist. In addition to his artistic contributions to Impressionism (and Post-Impressionism), he is still regarded as a parental figure. Young Camille Pissarro started experimenting with art, along with friends like Monet and Degas, eventually contributing to the development of the Impressionist style.
By 1890, Pissarro thought he had finally figured out how to achieve the harmony in painting he had sought throughout his career. In 1870, when he was around 40 years old, Camille wrote to his niece Esther Isaacson about the beginning of this discovery. The letter had the famous phrase, “I began to grasp my sensations and to realize what it was that I wanted to do—but dimly.”
Georges Bernheim, a dealer, told Pissarro in an 1891 letter that his time had come, acknowledging the evolution of his art since the height of Impressionism. Durand-Ruel hosted a significant and widespread exhibition of Pissarro’s work in 1892, and for the first time, the artist experienced some degree of financial security.
Legacy
Camille Pissarro was an essential player in the development of Impressionism. He is the prototypical Impressionist thanks to his unwavering faith in the need for separate group exhibits and his dedication to portraying landscapes in particular weather and lighting circumstances. As a result, he received appreciation and attention from critics by the end of his life.
When his Impressionist contemporaries Renoir, Monet, and Sisley turned away from the theme, French Impressionist artist Pissarro turned it back into a series of views of Paris. The first was taken from a hotel window facing the Gare Saint-Lazare. At this point, he had arrived from Eragny.
Compared to his Neo-Impressionist works, Painter Pissarro’s latter paintings are more freely painted, and he frequently painted from an upper-story window.
Painter Pissarro liked to paint more than one painting of each location to investigate and communicate the varying effects of light and weather. This forced him to resume his long-standing search to convey perceptions of light and color in these works. Artist Pissarro achieved the long desired uniformity by bringing colors and tones into harmony and using a steady brushstroke to cover the entire canvas.
Best Paintings By Camille Pissarro
Camille Pissarro was a mentor to many new artists, like Cézanne and Gogh. He was an extraordinary talent and a wise guy with a gentle nature. Over his career, Pissarro painted over 1500 pieces, most of which were destroyed in the Franco-Prussian. Even so, some of his art pieces still exist and are worth millions of dollars. Here is the list of Camille Pissarro’s most famous paintings:
The Boulevard Montmartre at Night (1897)
Camille Pissarro’s most famous painting, The Boulevard Montmartre at Night, is the only example of his night paintings. The art piece shows the beautiful Paris’ bright, new beginning as the hub of European architecture and urban design following Baron Georges-Eugène Haussmann’s renowned city-wide restoration.
The essential elements of a Parisian street are depicted in this picture. The most well-known night scene painting ever created is “The Boulevard Montmartre at Night.”
Boulevard Montmartre; Night Effect – Camille Pissarro
On a Winter Morning’s The Boulevard Montmartre (1897)
In this artwork, Camille shows the bustling Parisian avenue in Pissarro’s second-floor hotel room. People were out strolling on a chilly winter morning. The historical scene “The Boulevard Montmartre on a Winter Morning” depicts the city’s growing vibrancy at the start of the 20th century.
Young Peasant at Her Toilette (1888)
This art shows a young woman standing in a bathroom while washing her long hair. Neo-Impressionism and pointillism are the painting techniques used in “Young Peasant at Her Toilette.” The artwork looked unique because it was created using little color strokes or dots placed on a surface in a way that allowed them to blend.
Self-Portrait with Hat (1903)
The fourth and last self-portrait Pissarro ever painted was done in his Place Dauphine apartment, which had a view of the Pont Neuf. He gave off an air of intelligence and maturity, along with a bit of air of dominance and control. Quick and heavy brushstrokes were used to paint “Self-Portrait with Hat” in the style of the Impressionists.
Peasants’ houses, Eragny (1887)
This artwork depicts an average peasant’s home in the French village of Eragny. One of Pissarro’s rare pointillist works, “Peasants’ dwellings, Eragny,” dates from a brief period—roughly four years (1884–88). The use of vibrant colors to contrast light and shadow in the artwork indicates the artist’s style.
Eragny’s sunset (1890)
Eragny’s sunset is one of the most famous Pissarro landscape drawings. It shows a flat landscape with a low horizon, a line of trees, and a sky colored yellow by the sun’s final rays. The painting’s primary subject is a group of trees. The horizontal shadows the trees cast on the ground in front of them reveal the green of the trees. This painting was one of Pissarro landscape final paintings.
Sunset at Eragny, 1896 – Camille Pissarro
Bath Road, Chiswick (1897)
This picture shows the Bath Road neighborhood in Chiswick, London’s newly built garden district, where Camille and her husband Lucien lived while recuperating from a stroke. Esther and Orovida, their daughters, played in front of the garden. This artwork lacks completion. The front and rear of the house were painted many times.
Hay Harvest at Éragny (1901)
In this piece of art, ladies are seen harvesting in the River Epte-side French town of Éragny. The positioning of the women in Pissarro’s painting gives the foreground a sense of rhythm and continuity. The picture is similar to Van Gogh’s “The Potato Eaters” in that it depicts female farm laborers rather than a landscape.
Conclusion
Painter Jacob-Abraham-Camille Pissarro was a pivotal figure in the Impressionism movement for the duration of its existence. Pissarro portrayed rural and urban French life in his paintings, focusing mainly on the surroundings of Pontoise and Montmartre. Pissarro’s painting style inspires many upcoming artists. However, compared to his Neo-Impressionist paintings, Pissarro’s latter paintings are more loosely painted, and he often painted from an opening at the top.
