Camille Pissarro in 10 Paintings

1. A Creek in St. Thomas (Virgin Islands), 1856

Pissarro was born on the island of St. Thomas, depicted here. His parents sent him to a boarding school in France when he was 12 years old and he returned to St. Thomas in his mid-teens to learn the family business. He ultimately pursued a career in the arts instead, spending the bulk of his life living and working in France.

2. Charing Cross Bridge, London, 1890

During the Franco-Prussian War, Pissarro was forced to temporarily relocate to England, living in a town just outside of London from 1870 to 1871. Although he returned to France as soon as he could, he made trips back to London over the following two decades. This work from one such trip in 1890 features his signature care given to depicting the effects of light on his subject matter.

3. The Corner of the Route de Versailles and the Chemin de l’Aqueduct, Louveciennes, 1869

While Pissarro was sojourning in England during the Franco-Prussian War, he left behind approximately 1500 paintings that he had completed over the 1850s and 1860s. When he returned, only 40 of them remained. Sadly, the rest were destroyed by soldiers in Pissarro’s absence. They had used them as outdoor floor mats to keep their boots out of the mud!

4. Portrait of Cézanne, 1874

Many of the other Impressionists referred to Pissarro as “Father Pissarro.” This was likely because he was about 10 years older than the rest of the group. Here, he depicts Post-Impressionist Paul Cézanne, sporting a full beard and black cap.

5. The Cowherdess, Eragny, 1886

The subject matter of the bulk of Pissarro’s works generally fall into three categories: landscapes, cityscapes, and portraits/figure studies. Pissarro made countless sketches over the years. Some were in preparation for works that he would later recreate in oil, meanwhile others were mere figure studies, such as this depiction of a cowherdess.

6. The Market at Gisors: Rue Cappeville, 1894–1895

In addition to his paintings and drawings, Pissarro also experimented extensively with printmaking. He tried out various media including etching, woodblock printing, and lithography. This work (an etching and drypoint) is one of his many figure studies, converted into a vibrant print.

7. Apple Harvest, 1888

In 1885, Pissarro was in close contact with the Pointillist artists Georges Seurat and Paul Signac. Pissarro experimented with Pointillism over the following few years, having taken an interest in the technique and its effects. Many of his works in this style were painted in Erangy and its rural surroundings, such as this piece.

8. The Boulevard Montmartre at Night, 1897

Pissarro was very interested in the effects of lighting, both natural and man-made. He painted multiple versions of this scene under various lighting and weather conditions to examine such effects. Each rendition has its own unique mood even though the subject matter remains the same. For example, here in the night version, he captures the reflections of light on the wet pavement.

9. Boulevard Montmartre, Spring, 1897

Meanwhile, this version painted in the springtime features trees with their first budding leaves. Note how here Pissarro meticulously renders the shadows cast by the buildings and figures in the streetscape. In all, Pissarro painted 14 versions of this scene from the window of his room in the Grand Hotel de Roussie.

10. Self-Portrait, 1903

One of Pissarro’s last pieces, he completed this painting the same year as his death. By this point, he was suffering from a recurrent eye infection that disallowed him from working outdoors for extended periods. Consequently, his later works were all completed indoors, many of cityscapes painted from his window, but also portraits such as this one. This work contains none of the vibrant colors we see in earlier works, perhaps a reflection of how the infection impacted his vision.

P.S. If you’d like to explore art by other Impressionists, be sure to check out our online course on French Impressionism. First lesson is free of charge!