Modernity meant the abandonment of myth, symbolism, and classical ideals in favor of science, the natural, and "real life;" these changes are well represented in the paintings of Camille Pissaro. Pissarro developed his style by exploring the roads, countryside, and urban...
[more]Modernity meant the abandonment of myth, symbolism, and classical ideals in favor of science, the natural, and "real life;" these changes are well represented in the paintings of Camille Pissaro. Pissarro developed his style by exploring the roads, countryside, and urban landscapes of France. He would take the canvas to nature and record, in "plein air," the beauty of his surroundings with as much sincerity and directness as possible. Pissarro was among the first to practice this innovative method of painting, recreating exactly what his eyes saw in complete disregard for tradition.
In the view of art academics, critics, and the gallery-going public, this new form of painting was barbaric, sluggish, and weak. Yet Pissarro never let such attacks blunt his ambitions; on the contrary, they fueled his allegiance to freedom of inquiry. Armed with a fierce attitude and a sharp tongue, Pissarro, both an atheist and an anarchist, confronted the art-world establishment and forced it to make room for his revolutionary style of painting. This passionate and unapologetic attitude would help win approval for Impressionism in general. Pissarro was quick to defend the talent of this new movement and would often express his belief in the need for new and modern art: "It is surely not difficult to see that our time is a birth and a transition to a new period."
Most of Pissarro's paintings are landscapes, usually devoid of human figures, that focus entirely on the forms and colors of nature. He developed new techniques of brushwork to capture the play of light and create a sense of movement, producing images with a soft and welcoming aesthetic. When figures are included, as in "Woman Breaking Wood" (1890) or "The Foot Bath" (1895), they function as elements of light and air. With a few brushstrokes, Pissarro diluted their movements, giving them a dreamlike quality and refocusing the viewer's attention on the beauty of the surroundings. The figures' faces remain obscure, their clothing blurred by the light; it is the countryside that remains the subject of Pissarro's studies.
Pissarro was a discrete poet. While he pursued a modern understanding of nature and believed wholeheartedly in individualism, he strove in his art to create "a moment in which the eternal comes into fleeting contact with the actual." Modernism for him did not mean the abandonment of transcendent values; rather, Pissarro rediscovered them in the particulars of light, texture, and color.
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