Beauty in the suburbs
Angela Summertield
Pissarro in London National Gallen', until 3 August
Staged to mark the 100th anniversary of Camille Pissarro's death, this small exhibition is also particularly timely, as it follows Tate Britain's recent survey exhibition, Constable to Delacroix. The latter provided a substantial account of the diverse cultural influences and mutual admiration which existed in the early 19th-century British and French art worlds. By the time Camille Pissarro arrived in London, in December 1870, the British landscape tradition, represented by its greatest exponents, Constable and Turner, was already an acknowledged revolutionary influence on French art and the development of plein-air painting. Camille Pissarro (18301903) became one of France's leading plein-air artists and this exhibition covers the stylistic changes which took place in his art over three decades.
Pissarro's first visit lasted until June 1871, and was borne out of practical necessity. He was one of a number of artists, musicians, composers and writers who sought refuge in London, in the wake of the Franco-Prussian war and the Paris Commune of 1870-71. The tranquillity and everyday normality of Pissarro's first London paintings belie the terror and sorrow surrounding his flight. He and his family had had to flee the house and studio at Louveciennes, and before they reached England his second daughter had died. Pissarro's choice of subject matter, Upper Norwood and its surroundings. one of London's developing suburbs, was certainly a radical departure for both contemporary French and British art. Its choice, however, was due to the fact that Pissarro's mother and half-sister's family had already settled in south London, and Pissarro therefore found rented accommodation close by.
Such paintings as the wintry 'Fox Hill, Upper Norwood', 1870, and the late spring 'The Avenue, Sydenham', 1871, both part of the National Gallery's own collections, are so evocative of Britain's seasons that it is difficult to dispel the notion that Pissarro merely alighted upon subjects. Pissarro's earlier paintings of French rural life and scenery, however, had already shown an artist exploring both old and new compositional devices, and the use of tone and hue in achieving harmonious works.
In 'Fox Hill, Upper Norwood', Pissarro used the traditional device of a central curving road to draw the eye into the painting. As the road recedes, the eye is drawn further back to a group of houses, the chimney smoke from which takes the eye across to the foreground tree, a repoussoir device much favoured by French artists, from Claude onwards. This structure creates a focal frame for the figures in the painting. Pissarro also used the contrasting power of complementary colours, in this instance red and green, to draw our attention to the rustic clay-tiled dwelling on the left, set against the modern slate-tiled houses beyond.
In the following year, Pissarro created a more ambitious composition in 'The Avenue, Sydenham'. His manipulation of diagonals against the strong verticals, provided by the tall modern villas, the church and trees, gives a sense of occasion and grandeur to the scene. As in the earlier work, the figures are shown in the middle distance. However, examination of the painting has revealed that Pissarro had considered including a female figure, in the right-hand foreground, so as to enhance the sense of animation and movement.
Camille Pissarro's subsequent visits to London were prompted by the need for him to see members of his extended family; these trips covered the periods May to June 1890, May to August 1892 and May to July 1897. The paintings which he made, as a result of these visits, show a more commercially attuned approach, as they included London's parks and gardens, and the river Thames. These works also showed a marked change in style.
In May 1892, Pissarro wrote to his son, Lucian, 'I have decided to do some very free and some very vigorous things in London.' In paintings such as 'Bank Holiday, Kew', 1892, and 'Stamford Brook Common, London', 1897, broader brush strokes and stronger hues are used to suggest the play of light and the vibrancy of living forms. During the period 1885-90, Pissarro had been influenced by NeoImpressionism, and aspects of this can still be seen in the work 'Kew Green'. 1892.
Camille Pissarro's ideas were to live on through artists such as Walter Sickert, who praised Pissarro's 'gentle painter-like art' and his creation of 'a new prismatic chiaroscuro'. This was a fitting tribute to an artist who, in his own words, sought to 'see beauty in the modest spots where others see nothing. Everything is beautiful, the whole secret lies in knowing how to interpret.'
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