During his painting career, Camille Pissarro had to struggle with many obstacles, and it was only when he reached the age of 60 that he was able to live from his art. He nevertheless succeeded in becoming an important axis and driving force of Impressionism, for whose young representatives he was an inspiration and unshakeable role model.
(...) Continue readingCamille Pissarro – Early support from Auguste Savary and Fritz Melbye
Camille Pissarro was born on 10 July 1830 on the Antilles where his father was a hardware merchant in the large Jewish community there. The close connection to his family in Bordeaux enabled Camille Pissarro to attend a French boarding school from the age of 12 where Auguste Savary, a recognised salon painter, was his principle and drawing teacher and who quickly recognised the young Camille’s exceptional talent. Emboldened by Savary’s encouragement, Pissarro eagerly filled his schoolbooks with sketches of landscapes of his Caribbean home. He was forced to return home however in 1847, as his father wished to school him in the family business. Despite this, Pissarro used every spare minute to practice drawing. During this time, he met Franz Melbye, four years his elder, who was already an established painter, and this new friend encouraged Pissarro to decide against the declared wishes of his parents and to choose painting. In 1852, they travelled together to Venezuela to paint the various impressions of societal life there.
Studies with Corot; acclaim from Zola; friendship with Cézanne
After Camille Pissarro finally managed to convince his father that painting was meant for him, he visited the World Exhibition in Paris in 1855. There, he studied over 5000 works by important painters including Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Eugène Delacroix and his namesake Camille Corot who would eventually become his teacher. On the insistence of his father, he also attended the École des Beaux-Arts, but found the prevailing teaching methods too dogmatic. He preferred to work with young colleagues, meeting in cafés and holding wild debates about Realism. Pissarro acquired some recognition with his early work and not least great praise from the young Émile Zola; the much-needed economic success failed to materialise, however, and the artist had to earn money painting roller blinds and awnings. A close friendship and fruitful collaboration developed with Cézanne, who would later effusively praise his friend Pissarro and declared that it was Pissarro who got him to work in the first place.
Financial breakthrough; political and social engagement
It was not until late that Camille Pissarro reached the longed-for financial breakthrough with an exhibition organised by his patron, the art dealer Durand-Ruel. But Pissarro did not find peace: the political situation made things difficult for him, having already declared his support for anarchism. He now became involved and used his newly acquired fortune to support anarchist partisans in need. In the Dreyfus Affair, he sided with Dreyfus and his furious defender Zola and, like the latter, eventually had to leave the country to escape the threat of reprisals. His partisanship led to arguments with important and close friends and expressionist partners such as Edgar Degas, Claude Monet and Paul Cézanne.
Camille Pissarro died on 12 November 1903 in Paris. He left behind not only a comprehensive oeuvre, but also five sons who all made a name for themselves as artists. To this day, numerous members of the Pissarro family are successful in the visual arts.
Camille Pissarro - Works that have already been sold at Kunsthaus Lempertz: