Looking at the Masters: Camille Pissarro

Fall began on Monday, the name of the season appearing in a 17th century phrase referring “to the fall of the leaves.” The British would say the season is Autumn, coming from the Latin autumnus, dating to the 13th century. The work of Jacob Andrew Camille Pissarro (1830-1903) is an excellent choice for depictions of the seasons. A Danish-French Jew, one of the original Impressionists, Pissarro paid close attention to the visible aspects of nature during all the seasons of the year. Art critic Emile Zola recognized and wrote about the artist’s expertise after viewing a Pissarro Pontoise landscape in the !868 Salon: “This is the modern countryside. One feels that man has passed by, turning and cutting the earth…And this little valley, this hill has a heroic simplicity and forthrightness. Nothing would be more banal were it not so grand. From ordinary reality the painter’s temperament has drawn a rare poem of life and strength.”

“Houses at Bougival, Autumn” (1870)

Pissarro lived in Louveciennes near Bougival from the Spring of 1869 until September 1870, and he returned with his new wife sometime during the period of 1871 to 1872. “Houses at Bougival, Autumn” (1870) (14’’x18’’) is set early in the season. Some trees have just begun to lose their leaves, while others hold on to their green leaves. A woman and child have a discussion by the side of the dirt road. He has a bookbag over his shoulder, and she carries a basket. The boy’s blue jacket and the woman’s blue shawl provide protection from the chill in the air. Pissarro has chosen to use a range of greens and reds, complementary colors, and a light blue sky to create a bright but not sunny autumn day. Warm yellows are missing from the scene.  The well-wrapped woman with the basket appears to be gathering vegetables in the small field of furrowed rows. Pissarro painted a charming and inviting rustic village with trees and rows of country houses. 

”Hoarfrost, ancienne route d´Ennery, Pontoise”’ (1873)

In “Hoarfrost, Old d’Ennery Road, Pontoise” (1873) (26”x37’’) gray/white crystals of frozen water vapor rise from on the fields at Pontoise. A man, bundled up against the chill and walking with a cane, carries a load of kindling through the field covered with hoarfrost. To generate greater visual interest, Pissarro painted crisscrossed plowing patterns on sections of the field, like a quilt laid on the ground. Strategically placed trees and the light blue, cloud-filled sky draw the viewer into the scene. Pissarro’s painting is remarkable.

“Harvest, Pontoise” (1881)

Pissarro was one of the founding members of the Impressionist group, and he showed his work in all eight of the group’s exhibitions. He continued to depict rural life, a subject he never tired of, and he worked in oil, pencil, gouache, charcoal, and he made prints. “Harvest, Pontoise” (1881) (18’’x22’’) (oil) signals a new direction as Pissarro gave human figures greater importance. In this piece, three workers are harvesting potatoes, a subject he repeated. They stay close together so they do not miss any ripe ones. They have been at it for a while, judging by the bulging brown sacks.  Pissarro perfected the Impressionist style with loose brush strokes to create the movement of air and people as they work outdoors. He chose complementary colors to create the atmosphere of a sunny day. These paintings demonstrate his renewed vigor.

“Picking Peas” (1887)

“Picking Peas” (1887) (gouache) (21”x25’’) is evidence of Pissarro’s interest in and study of pointillism, a style introduced by George Seurat in the 1880s. A Post-Impressionist, Seurat placed small dots of color next to each other rather than mixing them on a palette. From a distance the viewer’s eye would blend the colors. Pissarro chose to use more obvious spots of paint next to each other. The group of five women picking peas are prominent and create a sense of community. Pissarro painted their clothing with more traditional brush work, particularly in the shadows cast on the blue skirts.

“Picking Peas” was commissioned by Theo VanGogh, Vincent’s brother, who worked for the Paris art dealer Goupil & Cie. The painting belonged to Simon Bauer, a French Jew and a well-known art collector. The entire Bauer art collection was confiscated by the General Office for Jewish Affairs of the Vichy government under the Nazis (1943). Bauer’s collection and that of many Jewish families disappeared. Locating and recovering confiscated art remains an issue in 2025. Pissarro paintings are among them. When Simon Bauer’s 90-year-old grandson Jean-Jaques Bauer learned that ”Picking Peas” was listed in a Pissarro retrospective exhibition in France in 2017. The legal battle for the painting began. After several years of negotiation, the painting was restored the Bauer family in 2020. The Nazis stole many Pissarro paintings from Jewish families.

Pissarro stopped painting in plein air as a result of an eye infection in 1893.  But he never stopped painting. After hundreds of paintings of rustic life, he had to leave his beloved workers in the fields to paint scenes from inside hotels looking down from second story windows. He continued to live in Pontoise until his death.  Called “the father of Impressionism,” Pissarro was loved and respected by his fellow artists and by an appreciative public.

“Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing.” (Camille Pissarro)  

Note:  See the article (SPY, July 25, 2025) on Pissarro’s paintings from upstairs in Paris and other cities during various seasons of the year. 

Beverly Hall Smith was a professor of art history for 40 years. Since retiring to Chestertown with her husband Kurt in 2014, she has taught art history classes at WC-ALL and the Institute of Adult Learning, Centreville. An artist, she sometimes exhibits work at River Arts. She also paints sets for the Garfield Theater in Chestertown.