The Danish-French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist painter Camille Pissarro (1830–1903) was in many ways an odd man out among the Impressionist fold. He was Jewish, a native of St. Thomas, and older than his fellow artists Monet, Renoir, and Sisley, though he remained faithful to their avant-garde style. Despite their differences and politics—the Dreyfus Affair split the colleagues—Pissarro was the only artist to exhibit in all eight French Impressionist group exhibitions held between 1874 and 1886.
His canvases demonstrate the broken brushwork, pure colors, and quotidian subjects of the style—elements that made it so controversial at the time and prompted critics to complain about ugly subjects, garish color, and child-like daubing. Pissarro would patiently explain the purpose and methods of Impressionism to interested artists, and Mary Cassatt declared he “could teach stones how to draw.” Art historian Bonita Billman examines the landscapes and genre subjects of Camille Pissarro and explores his range of materials and forms including charcoal drawings, watercolors, etchings, and oil paintings.
World Art History Certificate elective: Earn 1/2 credit*
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