Pissarro at easel looking at camera (photo5008)

Taking on Pissarro, The Father of Impressionism is no mean feat for any curator. But where to start? After all Pissarro was a man and artist who travelled far and wide, from the Danish West Indies to Venezuela, London and France in his lifetime.

He was also a man whose art includes lithographs, etchings, paintings and pastels, whose contemporaries and friends included Signac, Monet, Cezanne, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Seurat and Degas, to name but a few.

Camille Pissarro; Le Quai du Pothuis à Pontoise; 1874

But also one whose artistic style digressed extensively from the waterside scenes of his youth to family self portraits, early and developing impressionism, extensive pointillism and his later, more painterly style.

The Ashmolean has gone above and beyond to gather together this loving and intimate portrayal of the real Pissarro, seen through his art and that of his fellow impressionists

Which is why The Ashmolean has gone above and beyond to gather together this loving and intimate portrayal of the real Pissarro, seen through his art, and that of his fellow impressionists.

Seurat, Georges (1859-1891): The Channel at Gravelines, Evening (Summer 1890) New York Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)

The results are really quite breathtaking thanks to curator Colin Harrison, head of European Art – 120 works, 80 by Pissarro, 40 by his friends and contemporaries, 66 from The Ashmolean’s own archives – not only cementing Pissarro’s status, but proving it.

“NOT ONLY WAS PISSARRO COMPELLING AND UNCONVENTIONAL, BUT HE HAD GREAT CONVICTION AND WAS ENORMOUSLY ENCOURAGING”

“One of the things that delights me most about this exhibition is Pissarro’s extraordinary variety and the range of his artistic achievement,” Colin says.

Colin Harrison curator in the Pissarro exhibition

Pissarro’s influence is therefore undeniable in this new exhibition, but why was he such a dominant presence? “While he wasn’t the sole begetter, not only was he compelling and unconventional, but he had great conviction and was enormously productive, without having a position to maintain,” Colin says.

As The Ashmolean holds Pissarro, and his son Lucien’s, archive, in itself the biggest collection by an impressionist artist anywhere in the world, hosting this exhibition was therefore an “inevitable ambition” as director Xa Sturgis points out.

Pissarro Father of Impressionism is going to be hugely popular and has already been made into a feature film coming to our cinemas in May

What was harder was collating and curating such an exhibition during a pandemic while ensuring it’s unique approach. After all Pissarro exhibitions occur frequently all over the world, thanks to his extensive output, popularity and our enduring love of impressionism.

Paul Cezanne – The Cote Saint-Denis at Pointoise 1877 next to Pissarro’s The Cote des Boeufs, Pontoise

However, the announcement of another Pissarro exhibition in the Kunstmuseum Basel Museum in Switzerland, at the same time, triggered The Ashmolean into action. Having planned their own show for five years they decided not to compete but to partner, sharing extensive materials and knowledge with their Swiss colleagues.

“One of the things that delights me most about this exhibition is Pissarro’s extraordinary variety and the range of his artistic achievement”

And with Basel’s exhibition now finished, it is The Ashmolean’s time to shine. So how will it differ? “It is much more intimate because not only do we seek to illustrate Pissarro’s collaborations, his development and the extraordinary range of his achievements, but also his humanity, the man behind the art, the family man, because his private life was integral to his life and work,” Colin says.

Minette, Private Collection courtesy Ashmolean Museum

In short, to reveal the man as much as the artist – and so we are introduced not just to his friends – but also his family – his wife and children, the haunting painting of his daughter Minette just before she died will stay with me.

with Basel’s exhibition now finished, it is The Ashmolean’s time to shine

“Such riches,” murmurs Colin Harrison as we wander around the exhibition, unwittingly summing up his own vast achievements within this exhibition, as we peruse the visual contributions by Pissarro’s friends Seurat, Gaugin and Cezanne.

Pea Stakers, Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

“We hope the exhibition will be a huge cause for optimism. Covid has made life difficult for us all,” Colin adds.

But he needn’t have worried – Pissarro Father of Impressionism is going to be hugely popular and has already been made into a feature film c/o Exhibition On Screen, which is coming to our cinemas in May. And as this exhibition only runs until June I’d book in now!

PISSARRO FATHER OF IMPRESSIONISM runs until 12 June at The Ashmolean. Book here: https://www.ashmolean.org/pissarro