Camille Pissarro: A Loving Tribute

I am in love with Camille Pissarro (1830-1903). I have been for a long time. No, not romantic love, more like the adoration of a child sitting at the feet of a wise and experienced father.


You can imagine my joy to find an exhibit in Barcelona of 67 of his paintings. 67! I moved up close to his paintings trying to find him in his colors, impasto and other techniques. (I think I drove the security guards crazy.) Steeped in the environment of his paintings, I thought about his amazing output, political courage and gentle, fatherly personality.

His work ethic was boundless. No matter what was happening in his personal life, he painted. He painted outdoors as much as possible and mostly without consideration to the weather. When he could not paint outside, he stood at the window and painted.

Even in later life, with his vision impaired from a recurring eye infection, he painted. His industriousness was enough to eventually support his large family. (Wife, 8 children and household help)




Art was central to him, yet  Pissarro was a well-read and informed man. He understood the original meaning of anarchy (without a monarch/leader). Although he believed in non-violence, his leftist leanings brought him to the attention of the police. It was very dangerous for Pissarro for he had known artist who were jailed for their leftist beliefs. (Trial of the Thirty, 1894)

Another reason I admire him is the consistent description of him by his contemporaries as "fatherly." Gauguin, who studied with him, referred to M. Pissarro as "...one of my masters and I would not deny him." Cezanne walked miles just to paint with Pissarro. Mary Cassatt referred to him as "a teacher who could have taught the stones to draw correctly." It was his " gentle, kind, and warm-hearted personality" that held the Impressionists together.

The Impressionist Group consisted of 15 artists - each different in personality and temperament from the others. Yet, it was Pissarro who held the group together. Not only would his legacy be his role as "Father of the Impressionists," but also as the creative force of children and grandchildren who followed him in art.

Most notable among his progeny are: His son, Lucien Pissarro, a famous printer, grandchildren Claude Bonin-Pissarro, Henri Bonin-Pissarro, and Orovida Pissarro, all painters, and great grandchilden, Frédéric Bonin-Pissarro, painter and Joachim Pissarro, Head of Curator of Drawing & Painting, MOMA as well as professor of art at Hunter College.

Here's a glimpse of his art - another reason I am in love with him. And what is your take on M. Pissarro?

At the Orsay in Paris

My previous visits to Paris had been filled with the less daunting art museums than the Louvre. I had been to the Pan-Arab Museum, the Rodin, the Picasso and several other small museums which could be enjoyed in a single day.

My last trip to Paris was in very cold December. Thinking that the museums would be less crowded, I made a commitment to see the Louvre and the Musee D'Orsay (above photo).

The Louvre was gigantic, noisy and difficult to navigate. On the other hand,the Orsay was "just right" (as Goldilocks would say). I was enchanted with it the minute I passed through the ticket booth. It was like coming home. Perfect. I would return several more times just to see everything and commit what I saw to memory. (I'm sure there's still my well-worn path from the Metro to the Orsay.)

The Orsay building started life as a train station facing the Seine river. Thanks to the 14-year vision of Michel Laclotte, the chief curator of the paintings department at the Louvre, the station was converted to an art museum in 1986.

The museum is dedicated to the period from 1848 to 1905. For those of you who are enchanted by the Impressionists' period as I am, this museum is heaven. Yet, the museum levels are arranged so that the viewer can see the works of master artist prior to the Impressionist all the way to the post-Impressionists.

My personal favorite was the area where pastels are exhibited. You can see the quick sketches of Toulouse-Lautrec, Degas, and others who were drawing in the moment. These sketches were often done on whatever paper was available. To keep paper and pastel from deterioration, these rooms are darkened and the arts kept in temperature/moistured controlled glass displays.

There is a feeling of reference in these darkened room. It's as if the viewer is watching the hand of the artist at the moment of creativity. It was time travel. As I looked at the sketches and the immediacy of them, I felt as if I was looking over the shoulder of the artist.

On my last day in Paris, I resolved to spend whatever time I had in the Orsay, soaking up the art.

I salute the visionaries who created such a wonderful museum. Must not forget... when you need a break, the French live up to their gastronomic reputation - the restaurant is a delight. (photo left)

Next week join me for the art at the Orsay and a few personal favorites.

Meantime don't forget the contest to NAME the ART.

Manet or Monet - Who's Who?

I was telling a friend about seeing a "Manet" and she said, "Don't you mean Monet?" I can understand the confusion. Two French impressionist painters with similar names, living at the same time who were also personal friends. It can seem confusing, so let's see if we can find the differences that distinguished Manet from Monet.

Since Edouard Manet (1832-1883) was born first, we'll start with him. Manet created the foundations for Impressionism. He walked the line between Realism and Impressionism. He painted directly from models to canvas as Realism required, but as an Impressionist, he worked quickly and completed the painting in one seating. He did not suffer the tedium of waiting for a layer of paint to dry and then adding another layer. No. Instead he applied the exact color directly and, if he didn't like it, he scraped it off and tried again.(Portrait of Berthe Morisot, Impressionist Artist)




By contrast, Claude Monet (1840-1926) was not interested much in the subject or model and preferred to consider the colors of the object. In other words, it wasn't a tree or grass. It was a square of green, a rectangle of blue, or a line of red. Monet would paint the same scene be it his gardens, a church or a stack of hay as changing bits of color.

How to tell whose work it is? If it is painted with dabs of color, you are looking at a Monet. If instead you are looking at models in a loosely painted style, it's a Manet.

Now, try your hand at identifying if the paintings below are Manet or Monet.

Pissarro: The Impressionists' Father Figure

In early Modern Art, Camille Pissarro (1830-1903) was one of the most influential Impressionists. Nowadays, his contributions to art and artist seem to be overshadowed by other Impressionists such as Monet and Degas - that would be unfortunate. It was his experiences and personality that held the Impressionists together.

For one thing, his experience of the world was different from these French painters. He was not a native Frenchman. He was born in St. Thomas (now part of the Virgin Islands.) His father was a Portuguese Jew and his mother was Creole.

There was a great intolerance for the mixed marriage and the siblings were sent to all-black primary school. At age 12, Pissarro's father sent him to France to study art.

Perhaps it was the segregation on the island that made Pissarro show "sympathy and understanding" as Cezanne described him. When the Salon des Beaux Artes refused the paintings of the Impressionists, it was Pissarro with his strong sense of fairness who created the first charter for the artists' group. (It was this group that formed the "Salon des Refuses")

Pissarro's personality held the disparate group of artists together. (It certainly helped that he was a gray beard by age 43.) The other artists including Monet, Manet, Renoir, Cezanne, and Degas, considered him a kind and patient father figure.

Yet, it wasn't only his demeanor. It was also his extensive contributions to the techniques of Impressionism. In the history of art, Pissarro is referred to as "the Father of Impressionism." (In recognition of Pissarro after his death, Paul Cezanne referred to himself as "Paul Cezanne, pupil of Pissarro." )

His kindness, fairness and tolerance as a father and teacher would extend even to his own children. As a matter of fact, more than 150 years after his death there are famous artists and curators in his direct lineage who proudly carry the name "Pissarro."

Father, indeed.