The Impressionist and the City: Pissarro's Series Paintings (Hardcover)

by Dr. Richard R. Brettell (Author), Joachim Pissarro (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
The catalog of an exhibition traveling to Dallas, Philadelphia, and London in 1992-93, this book considers approximately 150 paintings done by Pissarro (1830-1903) in the last decade of his life. These paintings are repeated meditations on various motifs in Paris, Rouen, Dieppe, and Le Havre. Brettell (director, Dallas Museum of Art) places Pissarro in the urban view-painting tradition, while Joachim Pissarro, a descendant of the artist, relates these pictures to the artist's development and attempts to understand his intent in painting series. Graced by beautiful plates, this book is appropriate for both lay readers and specialists.
- Jack Perry Brown, Art Inst. of Chicago Lib.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description
Camille Pissarro is perhaps best known for the landscape paintings of his early career, yet in the final decade of his life (1893-1903) he began to depict urban scenes and his paintings from this period, of Paris, Rouen and the busy ports of Dieppe and Le Havre formed an important component of his artistic output. At this time Pissarro, like Monet, started to work on canvases in series, ofthen pointing several simultaneously and discarding one temporarily when the light, the weather or his mood altered. He started all of them at the scene and worked with extraordinary speed and deftness. In this book, the authors set Pissarro's cityscapes in their broad art-historical context, looking also at contemporary treatments of the urban scene by Vuillard, Bonnard and Toulouse-Lautrec. Using Pissarro's extensive correspondence from this period, they reveal the artist's own attitude towards his final works. The book includes a catatogue of Pissarro's urban series, each one introduced by an overview covering the history of the cityscape pictured and the production, exhibition history and early critical reception of the series. This book is the catalogue for an exhibition of Pissarro's cityscape paintings at the Dallas Museum of Art (November 15, 1992 - January 31, 1993). The exhibition will then be shown at the Philadelphia Museum of Art from March 7 to June 6, 1993 and at the Royal Academy in London from July 2 to October 10, 1993.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (November 25, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300053509
• ISBN-13: 978-0300053500
• Product Dimensions: 11.7 x 10.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,014,085 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An exceptionally beautiful look at Pissarro's late work., April 23, 1999

By A Customer

Camille Pissarro's career was a vibrant and prolific one. The artist's late work on his eleven major series paintings (Rouen, Paris, Dieppe and Le Havre) is beautifully documented and discussed in this stunning volume. We join Pissarro in 1896 as he begins to explore atmosphere and mood through a variety of lighting and weather effects on a series of selected locations. Including such works as the collection of Boulevard Montmartre views as well as the The Avenue de l'Opera, The Tuileries Gardens and The Pont-Neuf, this book is recommended to anyone who loves impressionism in general, Pissarro's work in particular or simply longs for a visit to France and the City Of Light but only has $65.00 to spend.