Camille Pissarro
The steady, nurturing father of Impressionism, he painted the humble beauty of peasant life and rural landscapes with revolutionary light.
1830–1903 (age 73)·Danish-French painter·Birthday: July 10
Biography
Born on the Caribbean island of St. Thomas to a French-Jewish father, Camille Pissarro’s path to becoming a painter was an act of defiance against his merchant family’s expectations. He moved to Paris as a young man, where he became a central, stabilizing figure for a generation of artists challenging the rigid French Academy. Pissarro was the only artist to exhibit in all eight Impressionist exhibitions, and he served as a mentor and friend to figures like Cézanne, Gauguin, and Mary Cassatt. His subjects were often the laborers in the fields and the streets of provincial towns like Pontoise, rendered with a sincere dignity. In his fifties, he briefly embraced the pointillist techniques of Neo-Impressionism, showcasing a relentless intellectual curiosity. Throughout his career, Pissarro championed collective action among artists and maintained a radical political outlook that infused his view of the land and those who worked it.
#1 When Camille Was Born
The biggest hits of 1830
Camille's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1830Born
1835Started school
1843Became a teenager
1846Could drive
1848Could vote
1851Turned 21
1860Turned 30
1870Turned 40
President: Ulysses S. Grant
1880Turned 50
Edison patents the incandescent light bulb
President: Rutherford B. Hayes
1890Turned 60
Wounded Knee massacre marks the end of the Indian Wars
President: Benjamin Harrison
1900Turned 70
Boxer Rebellion in China
President: William McKinley
1903Died at 73
Wright brothers achieve first powered flight
President: Theodore Roosevelt
Key Achievements
- Exhibited in all eight of the Impressionist group's independent exhibitions between 1874 and 1886.
- Mentored pivotal Post-Impressionist artists including Paul Cézanne and Paul Gauguin.
- Pioneered the depiction of modern rural life and peasant figures as worthy subjects for major art.
- Successfully adopted and exhibited Neo-Impressionist pointillism later in his career.
Did You Know?
He was of Portuguese-Jewish descent from his father's side, born a Danish citizen on the island of St. Thomas.
During the Franco-Prussian War, he fled to London, where he painted views of the suburbs, and many of his earlier works were destroyed by soldiers occupying his home in France.
He experienced recurring eye infections that forced him to paint from behind a window in his final years.
His letters to his son Lucien provide a detailed and invaluable historical record of the Impressionist movement.
“Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing.”
