company news about Jacob-Abraham-Camille Pissarro, the "Miller" of Impressionism

Jacob-Abraham-Camille Pissarro, the "Miller" of Impressionism

Camille Pissarro (July 10, 1830 - November 13, 1903) was a French Impressionist master, born in St. Thomas, Antilles, and died in Paris in 1903.

A year before his death, Gauguin in Tahiti wrote: "He is my teacher." Three years after his death, Cézanne, the "father of modern painting", was in his catalogue of works exhibited. Respectfully signed "Paul Cezanne, student of Pissarro".

Camille Pissarro, among the Impressionist masters, Pissarro is the only painter who has participated in all 8 Impressionist exhibitions, and can be described as the most determined Impressionist art master. Pissarro is a consistent Impressionist painter, a pioneer of Impressionism, and is known as the "Miller" of Impressionism.

Pissarro showed a keen interest in art from an early age, but it was not until the age of twenty-five that he had the opportunity to come to Paris to get in touch with the art world. He met the painter Corot in Paris and later met Monet, Cezanne, Bazier, Renoir and Sisley in his private studio. His early paintings of Parisian landscapes were selected for official exhibitions between 1864 and 1870.

In 1870, he went to London to escape the war; after his return, his works were no longer accepted by the official salons, and his fate was closely tied to that of the Impressionists. Like other Impressionists, his work was also influenced by Japanese art. He expresses contemporary landscapes with bright colors and quivering brushstrokes.

With a strong curiosity, Pissarro is also constantly exploring new techniques.

Between 1885 and 1890, he followed the painter Georges-Pierre Seurat in Pointillism, but later returned to his original technique.

In 1892, the dealer Durand-Luel held a major retrospective for him. Since then, Pissarro has devoted himself to depicting urban landscapes, especially Parisian streetscapes from a bird's-eye view, focusing on the bustling streets and alleys, and such works eventually earned him an international reputation.

Impressionist painter

Impressionism is a school of painting born in France in the second half of the 19th century, and its representatives include Monet, Manet, Camille Pissarro, Renoir, Sisley, Degas, Morisot, Bazieu and Paul · Cezanne, etc. They inherited the French Realism predecessor painter Courbet's tradition of "making art face contemporary life", and further freed their creation from dependence on themes such as history, mythology, religion, etc., and got rid of the traditional painting program of telling stories. Constrained, the artists walked out of the studio, went deep into the fields, villages, and streets, and put the fresh and vivid perception of nature in the first place, carefully observed the natural scenery bathed in light, sought and grasped the warm and cold changes and interactions of colors, and made the The swiftness of grasping the object at will, but accurately, records the ever-changing light and color effects on the canvas, leaving a momentary and timeless image. The way of sketching in direct external light, the vivid impressions captured and the styles it presents, cannot but be said to be the pioneering work of Impressionist painting and a revolution in painting. The influence of the Impressionist art movement spread all over the country, and achieved brilliant achievements. To this day, their works remain the most popular art treasures of mankind.

Impressionist painters are divided into two types: heavy light and color, and heavy modeling and sketching. The former is represented by Monet and Renoir, the latter is represented by Degas, and Camille Pissarro is in between. 

Camille Pissarro is a consistent Impressionist painter. His significance to Impressionism is even more than that of Monet. His high moral character wins everyone's admiration. In the eyes of the Impressionists, he is the parent of this loose family. People honored him as the Impressionist Moses (the messenger of God, the leader of the Israelites).

Camille Pissarro can be called the "mainstay" of the Impressionist group. Although the "social popularity" of several other Impressionist masters is greater than his, the overall role is still different.

Cezanne, Gauguin, etc. all called themselves Pissarro's students. He is the only painter to have participated in all 8 Impressionist exhibitions. No matter how much pressure there is from the outside world or how much internal disputes there is, Pissarro quietly perseveres, attracting Cezanne, Gauguin, Seurat, Signac and others to participate in the group exhibition.

Camille Pissarro, who came from a family of merchants, was reluctant to go into business with his father. But when he came to France to study painting, he lived in embarrassment and his paintings could not be sold, so he had to work as a painter to make a living. But he said: "Painting makes me happy, it is my life, nothing else matters." After reading his 1867 "Jallais, Pontoise", the writer Zola called him "the third of our time". One of the four great painters. His brushwork is solid and extensive, and he has the tradition of a master. Such a beautiful picture can only be made by an honest person."

Pissarro also once admired the style of the founder of Pointillism, George Seurat, and painted some works with this technique, but he soon realized that Pointillism was not suitable for his temperament, and he still had to use it honestly. Create your own style. This 1873 painting "Pontoise: Slopes of the Hermitage" seems to make people smell the fresh air of the countryside. The old peasant, who focused on farming time, made people feel a bit like Pissarro himself. After the age of 60, his life improved, but he could not walk due to leg disease, so he painted by the window every day until his death.

Representative work

The slopes of the Hermitage

Pissarro was a Danish citizen when he was born on July 10, 1830. His parents wanted him to pursue a career in business, but he had a strong interest in art since childhood, and did not come into contact with art until the age of 25. Pissarro favored Japanese blur framing, expressing contemporary landscapes with bright colors and quivering brushstrokes. Pissarro was actually a rural landscape painter, trying his best to express the unity of man and the environment, to draw nourishment from it, and to express the harmony of houses and countryside.

"Pontoise: Slope of Hermitage" was painted two years after the Pissarro family returned to France, and the family lived in Pontoise for 10 years. Pissarro and his family live in separate houses in the Hermitage neighborhood of the Pontoise Heights, all of which are newer buildings, but there is also an old town not far away, with some 17 - 18th century building.

These buildings appear solid and ancient in Pissarro's painting, and the whole painting has a healthy rural atmosphere, giving a plump and ancient impression, with bare trees, smoking chimneys and well-plowed fields. The early autumn scenery of the city deepens this impression.

The power expressed in the picture first comes from the sharply layered composition. The author intentionally creates a strong contrast between the whole of the building and the trees, but also from the vague harmony between the colors. Greens and blues, greys and beiges, and even the reds of the chimney pipes are relegated to the back burner without adding any useless sheen. Above the thick house on the right, the trees outline a poetic pattern. This zigzag brushwork, which Pissarro is good at, makes the picture appear vibrant and increases the practical effect of the diagonal lines. People's eyes will naturally go to the upper part of the painting - Mathuran Castle.

Lordship Lynn Railway Station

At the age of 25, Pissarro was attracted by the Corot landscape paintings of the Barbizon school at the World Exposition, which determined him to take the artistic path of landscape painting all his life.

Later, he made a special trip to visit Corot, and got guidance and teaching from Corot. In the mid-1960s, Pissarro took part in the Salon exhibition as a student of Corot, and until the 1970s, his painting style was still influenced by Corot's style. In this work, we clearly feel the use of Corot's expressive techniques.

In this work, the pure and fresh blue-green tone of Corot's style and the simple and elegant, quiet atmosphere with classical charm are obvious, and the painting method is calm.

"The Road to Lufsiène"

Pissarro's learning from Corot was by no means an imitative imitation, but a unique sensitive perception. He perfectly integrated Corot's painting method into his original skillful skills and unrestrained style, and appeared in a very natural form. on the screen. What we see in this "Road to Lufoussiene" is not only the shadow of Corot, but more of Pissarro's own fresh air, bright sunshine, soft and far-reaching cloudy sky, giving The sense of time, space and color of people is wonderful, and the realism of this impression can evoke memories of everyone as if they were there.

"Impression of the Village, Winter"

In this "Impression of the Village, Winter", Pissarro tried to replace his original fine brushstrokes with Cezanne's larger, stable and solid brushstrokes, and the colors also have a simple transition between warm and cold similar to Cézanne's style. The color blocks are thick and flat, and the picture is full of strength and weight. But the whole picture is more lively and warm than Cezanne.

"Vegetable Garden and Flowering Trees: Spring in Ponte Oise"

Pissarro really belongs to the representative works of the early Impressionist style. It was formed in the late 1970s. The painter's "Vegetable Garden and Flower Trees: Spring in Ponte Oise" in 1877 is more typical. He uses small strokes to draw shapes, and the transition of color configuration is very subtle, rich, steady and thick, which is the familiar Pissarro painting method. This kind of painting has similarities with the later Seurat pointillism, but the inner temperament is different. This painting gives people a sense of ease, joy and vitality. The artist is like a singer, complimenting the seductive scenery of spring with cheerful brushstrokes.

"Montmartre Street"

When Pissarro entered the mature stage of his later years, he excluded the interference of external painting methods, and showed the superb skills and grandeur of a confident impressionist veteran painter. In the later period, he mainly painted bustling cities and street buildings, and he mostly took a bird's-eye view. . In his later years, he painted street scenes from his upstairs bedroom. This "Montmartre Avenue" is representative.

This is a panorama of the Montmartre Avenue. Both sides of the street are full of pictures. The crowd is flowing and the traffic is busy. Due to the wide angle of view, there are many buildings, and the flow of cars and horses is very small. It can only be drawn with thick brush strokes. However, it looks special. Vivid, coupled with accurate perspective, the flow of vehicles and people in the painting seems to be moving in the painting, which depicts the busy and lively scenes of a modern city. It foreshadows the scene that 20th century futurists were keen to depict—the fast-moving rhythm of modern cities. In this painting, the composition is grand, the street scene is solemn and grand; the colors are rich and soft, in the contrast of cool and warm colors, full of transitions of mid-tones, forming a delicate and varied gray tone, but very bright, it shows The light is full, the brush strokes are even and lively, and the roughness and detail are integrated, showing Pissarro's unique artistic style.

Other works

The other six works by Pissarro in Beijing are "The Seine and the Louvre", "The Boulevard in the Woods in the Snow", "The Harvest of Monfoucault", "The Asylum of Errani" and "The Garden of Hermitage". A Corner and Rue Enélie near Pontoise.