Set all at 2col

Route.jpg

Camille Pisarro, “The Corner of the Route de Versailles and the Chemin de l’Aqueduc, Louveciennes,” circa 1869,  oil on canvas, The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Md., the George A. Lucas collection.

Ruelle.jpg

Camille Pisarro, “Ruelle des Poulies at Pontoise,” circa 1872, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, Tenn., gift of Mr and Ms Hugo N. Dixon.

Chestnut.jpg

Camille Pisarro, “Chestnut Trees at Osny,” circa 1873, oil on canvas, private collection.

FOR 6-1

MILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM CAMILLE PISSARRO’S IMPRESSIONIST

avv/lsb set 5/18 #700512

MILWAUKEE, WIS. — “Pissarro: Creating the Impressionist Landscape” will be on view at the Milwaukee Art Museum June 9–September 9. The exhibition explores Camille Pissarro’s transformation from a traditional landscape painter to a daring pioneer of Impressionism.

The exhibition brings together more than 40 of the artist’s finest canvases from major museums and private collections around the world to focus on a pivotal decade of his career, 1864–74. During this brief yet intense period, Pissarro laid the groundwork for an entire generation of painters, including Degas, Renoir, Cezanne and Monet.

Exhibition highlights include Pissarro’s large-scale paintings from the Salon exhibitions of the 1860s and a powerful selection of landscapes seen in the first Impressionist show of 1874. Colorful scenes of the picturesque French countryside show the evolution of  Pissarro’s painting technique, palette and subject matter from a Barbizon-influ-enced style to a modern one.

Works from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Musee d’Orsay, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Art Institute of Chicago and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, among others, as well as seldom seen private collections, comprise the exhibition.

Pissarro was born on the island of St Thomas in 1830 and at the age of 12, was sent to Paris to continue his study of art at various academic institutions. He studied under a succession of masters, such as Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Gustave Courbet and Charles-Francois Daubigny. It was during this time that Pissarro’s style evolved and his signature themes developed.

Pissarro focused on local life: workers in the field, washerwomen, paths and streams. The subject matter was not nearly as radical as the approach.

Pissarro felt that light was inseparable from the object it illuminated, so to capture the light at a precise moment, he worked from direct observation. Pissarro executed this emotive style with bold strokes and delicate applications of color. He studied closely the effects of light, climate and season to create a style that was distinctly his own; yet, in turn, he set the course for the movement that would later become known as Impressionism.

Pissarro’s departure from the popular, more technically realistic approach to painting held him back from being wholly accepted into the Salon culture in Paris. Rather than conform to the strict Salon aesthetic, Pissarro followed his vision, although unpopular, and pushed the boundaries of conventional painting technique.

He began to organize an independent exhibition for those who shared his vision. Pissarro was at the center of the group that included artists such as Degas, Renoir, Cezanne and Monet. All were to become masters under the tutelage of the artist and exhibited works at the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874.

The exhibition was met with disdain and public outrage, which pushed the Impressionists further from the mainstream. There were eight Impressionist exhibitions in total over the succeeding years; Pissarro was the only artist to exhibit in them all. Finally, at age 74, Pissarro and the Impressionist movement gained acceptance in the art world.

This exhibition is organized by The Baltimore Museum of Art and curated by BMA curator of European painting and sculpture Katherine Rothkopf. The Milwaukee presentation of the exhibition is coordinated by Laurie Winters, curator of earlier European art.

Following the Milwaukee presentation, “Pissarro: Creating the Impressionist Landscape” travels to Memphis (Tenn.) Brooks Museum of Art, October 7–January 6. A fully illustrated catalog accompanies the exhibition.

On Thursdays, June 14–September 6, at 11:30 am, the museum will present 30-minute talks with exhibition curator Laurie Winters; three paintings will be highlighted in each talk, exhibition ticket is required.

The museum is at 700 North Art Museum Drive. For information, 414-224-3200 or www.mam.org.