FAD Magazine

FAD Magazine covers contemporary art – News, Exhibitions and Interviews reported on from London

Plenty of Pissarro

Camille Pissarro in 1900

Do you fancy owning a Pissarro? Perhaps you’ve been to his most substantial UK show in decades: ‘Father of Impressionism’ at the Ashmolean, Oxford (to 12 June). That places Camille (1830-1903) as an influential impressionist – and he was the only artist to display paintings in all eight Impressionist exhibitions, 1874 -1886. Not surprisingly you’d be looking at £500,000 – £1m to obtain a reasonably-sized painting.

Camille Pissarro, The Tuileries Gardens, Rainy Weather, 1899

The potential good news, though, is that there are cheaper Pissarros. Camille was also a biological father: he had seven children, six of whom survived childhood, and five of whom became artists. The absence of more solid and reliable careers drove Camille’s wife, Julie, to distraction. Nor was that the last generation: the Pissarro family has continued to produce artists – enough of them that the Stern Pissarro Gallery in Mayfair London can always dedicate one of its two floors to the family’s productions. The family tree below identifies 17 artists.

That up-to-£1m for Camille can be compared with £10-20,000 for a painting by most of the rest of the family.

 

Lucien Pisarro: Éragny Church, 1886

Camille’s first son, Lucien, who lived in Britain from 1890, is the best-known descendant. It was meeting Lucien’s friends, Georges Seurat and Paul Signac, in 1885 that led Camille to experiment with pointillism, and Lucien’s own pointillist works are well-regarded.

 

Ludovic-Rodo Pissarro: Danseuse Au Tabarin, 1904

The spirited dancer is by the wide-ranging Ludovic-Rodolphe Pissarro, Camille’s fourth son, who generally signed with his familiar name ‘Rodo’.

Lélia Pissarro: Everything You Touch Turns To Gold, 2018

Lélia Pissarro (born 1963) and her daughter Lyora (born 1991 – Camille’s great-great-great-grandaughter) are the youngest to be shown. The former tends towards abstraction, the latter makes circular landscapes of the mind.

Lyora Pissarro in 2020

 

Art writer and curator Paul Carey-Kent sees a lot of shows: we asked him to jot down whatever came into his head

Categories

Tags

Related Posts

Paul’s Gallery of the Week: Pilar Corrias

Paul’s Gallery of the Week: Pilar Corrias

Whilst several galleries have recently moved into the traditional art spaces of Cork Street, Pilar Corrias’s new flagship space is on nearby Conduit Street, with 5,000 sq ft over two floors. 

Alexis Hunter: ‘The Model’s Revenge I-III’, 1974 - Set of three silver gelatin prints, 41 x 51 cm

Paul’s Gallery of the Week: Richard Saltoun

I first met Richard Saltoun some 16 years ago, when he was dealing from Savile Row together with Laurent Delaye (who now runs his gallery from Ramsgate) prior to setting up on his own account in 2012

Trending Articles

Join the FAD newsletter and get the latest news and articles straight to your inbox

* indicates required