The artistic achievements of Camille Pissarro (1830–1903), who is often described as a father figure to the Impressionists, tend to be overshadowed by those of his more famous mentees. A committed anarchist, Pissarro never found commercial success in his lifetime – but, almost uniquely, he took cues from each of the 19th century’s avant-garde movements in succession. With some 180 works, this survey at the Kunstmuseum Basel (4 September–23 January 2022) turns the spotlight on his own painting career, tracking the development of his style from the realism of Gustave Courbet to Impressionism, the optical theories of Neo-Impressionism in the hands of Seurat and Signac, and at the end of his life, the Post-Impressionist style of Gauguin and Cézanne. Find out more from the Kunstmuseum Basel’s website.
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Camille Pissarro on a bench in the garden of his house in Pontoise (c. 1874). Archives Musée Camille-Pissarro, Pontoise
Women with a Green Scarf (1893), Camille Pissarro. Photo: Photo © RMN-Grand Palais (musée d’Orsay)/Franck Raux
The Boulevard Montmartre, Spring 1897 (1897), Camille Pissarro. Langmatt Museum, Baden
The Gleaners (1889), Camille Pissarro. Photo: Kunstmuseum Basel/Jonas Haenggi