Camille Pissarro
Category: Books,Arts & Photography,History & Criticism
Camille Pissarro Details
From Publishers Weekly This gorgeously illustrated, major reassessment of Camille Pissarro (1830-1903) makes a persuasive case for his pivotal role as a technical innovator in the Impressionist movement. Art historian and curator Joachim Pissarro, the artist's great-grandson, interprets the French painter's career as a quest for autonomy embracing constantly evolving techniques in an effort to capture ever-changing reality. Born in the Virgin Islands to a French family descended from Portuguese Marranos (Jews forcibly converted to Christianity who practiced their original faith in secret), Pissarro became a free-thinking anarchist and married Julie Vellay, a servant in his parents' Parisian home. The author's masterful, loving analysis of the paintings argues forcefully against interpreting them as a reflection of Pissarro's political outlook, as modern critics have done. Lovers of French Impressionism will want to own this book, which includes many works never before reproduced. BOMC divided selection. Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. Read more From Library Journal This profusely illustrated volume has some 354 illustrations (205 reproduced beautifully in color) and would be a worthwhile purchase for this reason alone; but the text by the great-grandson of the artist is equally valuable. The author relies on solid authorities rather than familial sentimentality to give readers a panoramic view of Pissarro's work, which, when considered collectively, defies the simple categorizations of impressionist or neoimpressionist. The first chapters provide a scholarly but readable chronological overview and analysis of Pissarro's substantial output, while the later chapters address specific genres: figures, harvest, and market scenes; late landscapes; travels and series campaigns; and interiors, still lifes, and portraits. Chapter end notes, a selected bibliography with recent references, and a good index conclude the work. A fine companion to John Rewald's Camille Pissarro (1963), this is warmly recommended for art collections in all types of libraries.- P. Steven Thomas, Sangamon State Univ., Springfield, Ill.Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. Read more From Booklist Most exhibitions, and consequently the catalogs, of Pissarro's work have concerned themselves with the artist's interpretation of peasant life. This one is more comprehensive. The author traces Pissarro's career from its beginnings in St. Thomas to his last years in France, thus presenting Pissarro's works as biography. He discusses the late nineteenth-century painter's synesthetic philosophy, which placed him among both such impressionists as Monet and Degas and such neo-impressionists as Seurat and C{‚}ezanne, amply illustrating the text with nearly 200 colorplates, and despite sometimes awkward academic prose, he offers a timely insight into the artist's conceits and philosophies. Edward Lighthart Read more
Reviews
AS ONE REVIEWER, STILL POSTED AT THIS TIME, WARNS: THE PAPERBOUND EDITION OFFERED BY AMAZON AND OTHER BOOKSELLERS AS AN ALTERNATIVE CHOICE TO THE HARDBOUND EDITION, IS 24 PAGES IN LENGTH. Used copies of the monograph are available but at at a price which is usually well above that for which it was obtainable when published.Joachim Pissarro, grandson of the artist, is a highly regarded art historian and curator who has been associated with some of the most distinguished museum exhibitions of recent years. This study, one of several he has authored or co-authored on this oldest of the major Impressionists is, simply, beautiful. Abrams publishers, still at that time in the original hands, outdid its customary high standards in putting out a book which is, as a physical entity, gratifying to own. Printing, illustrations and editing are first rate. The author's text is notable for its precision of speech and thought, its analytical acuteness and, importantly for the lay reader, extremely accessible in style. There are some technicalities in discussions of individual pictures, but the ideas are not arcane and the language is straightforward and totally lacking in the speech patterns which characterize professional to professional communications. It is a joy to read for those of us who have not had the benefit of graduate degrees from Yale Fine Arts or other training grounds for art historians.The major intellectual thrust, as opposed to some other excellent, more recent publications, is that Pissarro's art is to be understood as a reflection of a mind striving objectively to create images which are honest reflections of reality as filtered through the sensibilities of the individual artist and laid down on canvas, paper, or other material, with the most sophisticated techniques which the artist can master. It is not intended as a reflection of the artist's anarchism, story-telling abilities, need to satisfy an audience, desire to win status among fellow-artists, make people feel good, sad, pitying, or, in sum, feel anything but in the presence of a master of the painters, etchers or lithographers skill, and a product which is a good picture, an artist's picture.Joachim Pissarro does give us a selective biography of the Artists life as well his work. He manages, though without the emphasis that others have, to give us some feeling for the reasons why, as a person, he was so respected. Upright, supportive, absolutely dedicated to the craft of art and to achievement of the good life for all, he was, surely, a great teacher, without being an Academic, and a wise counselor, without demanding any dependency from his students, including his children.If the price of the book is beyond the reader's means, I strongly recommend reading it where you can find it. Should you find a copy within your means, it will be a worthwhile resident on any bookshelf, whatever may be the quality of the other works thereon.