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Camille Pissarro

Painting En Plein Air

Plein air painting was first popularized by the impressionists in the 1870s. For centuries artists have been painting outdoors on location, but it wasn’t until the advent of metal tubes of oil paint that painting en plein air truly became a movement. Finally, artists were able to easily transport their supplies to whatever location they chose and paint on site. Prior to the introduction of paint tubes, artists had to mix their own pigments individually each time they desired to use a particular color. Paints would dry out quickly and so it was simply impractical to attempt to move a palette and supplies outdoors, far away from one’s studio.

Impressionists fully embraced plein air painting. This method was directly in line with their goal of capturing the magic of light and the essence of the landscape. Painting on location encourages the artist to work quickly to capture the mood of the setting. This can often account for the energetic brushstrokes seen in Impressionist canvases. Artists of all time periods and styles worked outdoors from life, but often they would only sketch or draft the composition they saw before them. The final paintings were reserved for the shelter of the indoor studio. Impressionists such as Vincent van Gogh challenged this method.

"The White Orchard" by Vincent van Gogh, 1888
“The White Orchard” by Vincent van Gogh, 1888

When inspired by an environment, he would often work fastidiously to render the scene in paint right then and there, such as in “The White Orchard” (1888). These spontaneous paintings by van Gogh and other artists like Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro define the oeuvre of the Impressionists.

Today, Jan Pawlowski works in a similar manner to many well-known masters. “A Day for Sailing” was painted from the beach on Chappaquiddick overlooking the harbor and Edgartown lighthouse. Pawlowski was inspired by the beautiful sunny blue sky and gentle wind to capture this image of sailboats keeling in the wind in front of the lighthouse.

"A Day for Sailing" by Jan Pawlowski
“A Day for Sailing” by Jan Pawlowski

Many artists that we represent here at The Christina Gallery paint en plein air. Stop by and ask us to point out some paintings for you or see if you can pick out which paintings were painted en plein air on our website!

Camille Pissarro and His Family

Camille Pissarro and Family
Pissarro with his wife and son, Paulemile, and daughter, Jeanne, in their garden at Eragny in 1897

Camille Pissarro (1830 – 1903) is frequently referred to as the patriarch of the Impressionist movement. Pissarro moved from his birthplace of St. Thomas to Caracas in 1852, and after this taste of independence from his family’s bourgeois life, returned to Paris (where he had studied as a boy) in 1855 to begin his life as an artist. Pissarro’s artistic talents were apparent from an early age, yet he increasingly grew to dislike the aesthetic canon revered by the Salons of Paris. Pissarro embraced the technical act of painting [and printmaking] and enjoyed the freedom and possibility that the paintbrush allowed him. He eliminated historical and sentimental associations from his artwork and instead focused on the quality of light and the modeling of form. Academies and the Salon that presided over the respected artistic world of Europe did not share this viewpoint. Instead they admired the artist whose work captured the likeness of the subject matter while not revealing the artist’s hand or the mark of the brush. A passionate brushstroke was seen as a weakness. Pissarro, along with his like-minded contemporaries including Monet, Renoir, Degas, Sisley and Morisot, organized their own exhibition of Impressionist works separate from the exhibitions hosted by the Salon. This exhibition was held in 1874 and was the first of eight independent Impressionist shows.

Throughout his life, Pissarro remained committed to his artistic ideals which were adopted by his children and future generations of artists. He was the only artist to exhibit works in all eight of the independent exhibitions, demonstrating his support of the younger generations of Impressionist artists. All of Camille Pissarro’s children were encouraged to draw frequently and four of his seven sons became well-established artists in their own right.

"Femme a la Barriere" by Camille Pissarro 1889
“Femme a la Barriere” by Camille Pissarro 1889

Pissarro produced engravings for his own enjoyment; he did not seek to sell them and as such they are often printed on small or unrefined pieces of paper. Despite this amateur attitude towards the medium of printmaking, Pissarro was to become a master in aquatint later in his career. His Femme a la Barriere (1889) combined both drypoint and aquatint and is a prime example of the varied techniques with which Pissarro experimented. He was known for remaining open minded about methods of artistic expression and embraced many styles within his works. The print is of a woman opening a garden gate. Varied lines capture the texture of the woman’s bustling skirt, the leaves of a bush blowing in the breeze, and the fine detail of the thatched roof cottage in the background. Pissarro’s prints reveal his private thought process and layers of preparation that lie behind each of his oil paintings.

 

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The Christina Gallery

The Christina Gallery
5 Winter Street
Edgartown MA 02539
508-627-8794
art@christina.com

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July Afternoon, Edgartown Yacht Club
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