Camille Pissarro is one the most endearing painters among the impressionist group: his subjects’ discretion and humbleness show his true talent: he can see something where no one would have seen anything. After putting his easel in the countryside around Paris, he paints narrow roads, small valleys, the changes of seasons and sometimes, the urban life.
His love for what Zola sees as the "modern countryside" is something we can understand nowadays in a political perspective of resistance and optimism. Pissarro has faith in human nature, he wants to "burn the Louvre to ashes" in order to forget the influence and authority of the past and look at the world with fresh eyes. This work is displayed at the Musée du Luxembourg throughout a wonderful focus on Pissarro’s last period of life.
In 1884, Claude Monet allows his friend Camille to move in a big house located in Eragny-sur-Epte, granting him a substantial loan. The 54-year old Pissarro wants to paint what he sees from his window, his garden: blossoming trees, his kitchen garden, apple trees, a walnut tree... Through natural motives, he paints his political commitment in favor of social progress and a claimed anarchism.
In his house, he welcomes many painters, works with his son and artist, Lucien, and develops a simple and independent life philosophy. The Musée du Luxembourg intelligently recounts the painter’s daily life we should look at carefully and without haste.
Practical information:
Pissarro
at the Musée du Luxembourg
Open daily from 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Until 10 p.m. on Fridays
Full rate: €12
Reduced rate: €8,5
Please note that it's been over 4 years since our last visit, so the place and experience may have changed.
Dates and Opening Time
From March 16, 2017 to July 9, 2017
Location
Musée du Luxembourg
19, rue de Vaugirard
75006 Paris 6
Access
RER B station "Luxembourg", line 4 station "Saint-Sulpice", line 12 station "Rennes".
Prices
tarif réduit: €8.5
tarif plein: €12
