Camille Pissarro was a 19th century painter considered one of the greatest exponents of Impressionism. Let’s discover his story and the road that led him to success.
Who was Camille Pissarro
Jacob Abraham Camille Pissarro (Charlotte Amalie, 10 July 1830 – Paris, 13 November 1903) was a French painter.
He grew up in what were then the West Indies together with his father Frederick and mother Rachel who traveled to the Antilles islands in the hope of taking over the affairs of a deceased uncle.
At the age of twelve, however, he moved to France where he began to study approaching drawing and painting encountering many obstacles on the part of the father. Despite everything, he decides to follow this path that takes a decidedly positive turn with the meeting of Fritz Melbye, a Danish painter who pushes him and devotes himself completely to art.
Camille Pissarro and the period in France
He then left for Venezuela where he began to make his first paintings to be able to support himself and travel to Europe. He manages to arrive in Paris in 1855 where he finds great artists and pictorial novelties in development introduced by Courbet in the Universal Exposition.
Here he attends the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and in the meantime performs a apprenticeship with Anton Melbye, brother of the already well-known Fritz. However, he understands that he is not inclined to the academic path, so he approaches the style of some more independent artists.
Camille Pissarro and the outbreak of war
In this period he approaches Claude Monet, Paul Cezanne and many other minds intolerant to what was the rigidity proposed in the Salons. In fact, it was typical that in these places there had been criticism by a jury that was regularly used to reward the most traditional works instead, beating the most innovative.
With the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War he flees to Norwood, in the suburbs of London where he meets an art dealer who understands the talent of the Impressionists before they gain universal recognition. Once back in Paris, his works are no longer there because they have been destroyed, but he continues to work anyway until, due to sight problems, he slows down production.