Review by Choice Review
This handsomely produced account of Camille Pissarro's life and art, written by his great-grandson, expands and refines our understanding of his vital contribution to French Impressionism. The opening chapters trace the master's creative evolution from his exotic beginnings in the tropical Americas and his professional debut in France, through his efforts to realize his goals in the locales that thereafter served as his adoptive homes, hence the sympathetically scrutinized subjects of his brush. The central phase of his career, enacted at Pontoise, Auvers, and Montfoucult, is discussed intensively, for it was in those years (1872-82) that Pissarro's solidarity with the Impressionist cause was firmest. The final five chapters address more topically centered issues. Four of them review his thematic repertory, especially his less popularly familiar figural subjects. His temporary though fruitful conversion to pointillism is considered in Chapter 8. A wealth of hitherto unknown or obscure material is introduced throughout. Although the author's formal analyses of individual works sometimes seem too patently didactic, his carefully observed comments on technique are helpful--often astute. He argues that Pissarro was able to remain both a devoted painter and a moral philosopher without confusing those two identites. He thus considers Marxian interpretations of his art as politically charged to be misleading. Generously illustrated and soundly documented. Highly recommended. F. A. Trapp; emeritus, Amherst College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
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 Cezanne, 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
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
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. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
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. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
