Paysage à Clécy by Paulémile Pissarro

Paulémile Pissarro
1884-1972 | French

Paysage à Clécy

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

A well-known figure in French art, Paulémile Pissarro was the fifth and youngest son of Camille Pissarro, as well as an important Post-Impressionist painter in his own right. The present oil on canvas is exemplary of his output, bringing together an impressionist devotion to light and color with a more modern stylistic approach. Furthermore, it represents a highly personal subject for the artist, as it captures his wife, Madame Yvonne Pissarro, on a path near their home in Clécy, France. Cherished by Pissarro, the work was kept in his collection until his death in 1972, after which it stayed with his widow for the remainder of her life.

Born in Éragny in 1884, Pissarro was raised within the creatively fertile environment of his family home and, encouraged by his father, began drawing at an early age. Paulémile’s godfather was Claude Monet, who became his teacher and legal guardian following Camille’s death in 1903. Monet was a source of encouragement, giving him lessons in painting and horticulture. In 1905, Pissarro 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. 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.

Circa 1940

Canvas: 25 5/8” high x 21 1/4” wide
Frame: 33” high x 28 3/4” wide