Studio: international art (79.1920)

CAMILLE PISSARRO

"LA PETITE BONNE DE CAMPAGNE "
BY CAMILLE PISSARRO

He seemed as much at home in the towns
as he had been in his beloved Eragny. His
pictures of streets form a remarkable col-
lection* The pictures, Mi-Careme (1897)
and Pont Neuf, reproduced here, are
examples of his work at this period. But
one misses his delicate and vibrating colour
and the sense of light, atmosphere, and
movement which he seemed able to express
by the subtle variety of colour alone. a
Pissarro worked in other mediums than
oil paint. In his use of all of them his
methods were decidedly personal. He
tried etching in 1865, and made a thorough
study of it in 1879. In etching he did not
confine himself to pure line, but by ways of

his own he obtained unusual effects of
atmosphere and texture. For a time" he
worked at lithography in 1874, and more
extensively in 1896. His lithographs are
not numerous. He understood the breadth
and luminosity of water-colour, which he
used to perfection, getting a subtle delicacy
and freshness of colour apparently with
the greatest ease. a 0 0 0

The story of Pissarro's friendships with
most of the great French artists of the
latter half of the nineteenth century would
make an interesting chapter. His influ-
ence was widespread, and sometimes deep-
est where it is least apparent. Van Gogh,
Gauguin, and Cezanne were all at some

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