Ombre et soleil by Paulémile Pissarro

Paulémile Pissarro
1884-1972 | French

Ombre et soleil
(Shadow and Sun)

Signed “Paulémile Pissarro” (lower right)
Oil on canvas

The fifth and youngest son of Camille Pissarro, the great Paulémile Pissarro painted this vivid oil on canvas. His unique blend of breathtaking color and a highly modern technique are fully evident in the work, which presents a solitary figure in the shadow of a tree. Painted near the end of his career, this painting fully realizes the painterly ideals of Pissarro and the Post-Impressionist movement.

Surrounded by art his entire life, the youngest Pissarro inevitably began drawing at an early age. At the age of 15, the artist attended a college in Gisors, but left after a few months in order to join his father on painting trips to Le Havre, Dieppe and Rouen. For the last few years of Camille's life the family lived in Paris, where Pissarro attended a private art academy.

Following his father's death in 1903, Pissarro returned to Eragny with his mother. Monet, who lived only twenty miles away at Giverny and who was one of Camille's closest friends, became his tutor, guardian and friend. Monet was a constant source of encouragement, giving him lessons in painting and in horticulture. In 1905 he exhibited for the first time at the Salon des Indépendants, showing an Impressionist landscape, Bords de l'Epte ý Eragny.

By the 1920s, Pissarro had become an established Post-Impressionist artist in his own right, and it was during the late 1920s and early 1930s that he reached the peak of his artistic development. He abandoned the pure colors and divided brush stroked of his father’s Impressionism, using instead a more vibrant palette, broader gestures and bolder strokes. As apparent in the present composition, his application of paint became tighter and thicker, almost expressionistic in style.

In 1967, Pissarro had his first one-man show in the United States at Wally Findlay Galleries in New York. This led to widespread recognition and a degree of professional success that few artists in the Pissarro family enjoyed in their lifetime. Since his death in 1972, his paintings have been exhibited around the world, with interest in his work continuing to grow.

This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity signed by Leila Pissarro.

Circa 1960

Canvas: 15 1/8” high x 18 1/8” wide
Frame:20 5/8” high x 23 5/8” wide