Camille Pissarro (1830-1903)

Вдохновляет!

Прекрасные картины. Какая перспектива! И все достойно, никакого эпатажа.

For his sensitivity, kindness, and ability to recognize talent in younger colleagues, he was called Papa Pissarro. The artist Mary Cassatt said, He was such an outstanding teacher that he could teach even a stone to draw. Artists of different styles, such as Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Cézanne, considered him their mentor. And he himself knew how to be different, but at the same time always remained true to his own original style, the style of Camille Pissarro.

Pissarro was born in 1830 in the port of Charlotte Amalie on one of the Antilles islands. His father, a native of Bordeaux, sent the 12-year-old boy to study in France. Upon returning home after college, Camille worked in his fathers shop and filled albums with sketches in his free time. Once, in the port, where Pissarro was watching the loading of goods and simultaneously sketching sailors, a young landscape painter named Fritz Melbye became interested in his drawings. They became friends, and a few months later, 17-year-old Camille, leaving a note for his parents, ran away with his friend to Venezuela in search of inspiration. Three years of travel gave them vivid impressions, but the main thing for Pissarro was not the exoticism of nature, but its accurate representation on canvas.

Camille decided to continue his studies in Paris. There, at the Fourth World Exhibition, 25-year-old Pissarro discovered the works of artists of the older generation: Millet, Corot, Delacroix. Corot became his mentor, and for 10 years Pissarro gratefully listened to the masters advice. The aspiring artist tried to depict nature as realistically as possible, but he received only criticism from critics for his primitiveness and a mocking nickname cabbage specialist for his early paintings. At Charles Suisses studio, the young artist met future Impressionists: Renoir, Monet, and Sisley. Under their influence, Pissarros palette became lighter, and the color scheme became more accurate. Pissarros impressionistic landscapes delight with the play of light and shadow. Soon, Camilles parents moved to Paris, and the young artist was charmed by his mothers maid. Due to her peasant background, Pissarro Sr. did not consent to their marriage, and when, 10 years later, the couple finally got married, he refused to provide his son with a monthly allowance. Camille and Julies family life was constantly short of money and filled with concerns about raising seven children. But even in the most difficult times, when the artist had to paint fans for a living, the patient Camille managed to maintain trusting relationships in the family and confidence that he would eventually gain recognition.

Pissarro often worked with other artists, borrowing their techniques and compositions. The creative dialogue between Pissarro and Cézanne lasted 15 years, enriching both artists. Van Gogh often asked his brother in letters what Papa Pissarro said about his paintings. And Paul Gauguin, calling Pissarro his teacher, stated: You say that he took a little from everywhere. We, in turn, learned a lot from him. Camille never engaged in blind imitation; he was always original. For example, the 48-year-old artists painting Island of La Croisette creates an effect of mist that is completely different from the strict works of the young Neo-Impressionist Georges Seurat. Although at that time, in the late 1880s of the 19th century, both artists worked in the technique of pointillism. But with the help of those very small dots of the same shape, Pissarro achieved an effect of pearly shimmering water and sky.

The artist tirelessly improved his technique, but a chronic eye disease forced him to give up work. The doctors were adamant; bright sunlight was contraindicated for Camille. To preserve his deteriorating eyesight, the 59-year-old artist had to look at the world through a window from now on. He was now forced to paint only what he saw through the windows of hotel rooms. In search of new subjects, Pissarro constantly moved: Rouen was replaced by Paris, then Le Havre. Long-awaited success came to the artist in his old age; his paintings were exhibited in Europe and the United States, and they fetched huge sums of money. The great artist Camille Pissarro, whom his friends adored for his nobility and wisdom, died in 1903. One of the last paintings by the 73-year-old artist, Pavilion of Flowers, a Parisian landscape, was painted by a man who could still rejoice in the world around him in old age. Happy is he who can see beauty in ordinary things. Everything is beautiful; you just need to know how to look.