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An Old Man Looking from the Window: Camille Pissarro, the Tuileries Garden Paintings, and Turning Points in His Career

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Retrospection and Revision in Modern and Contemporary Art, Literature and Music

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Abstract

This chapter’s point of departure is a series of paintings from 1898 to 1899 by Camille Pissarro (1830–1903) showing the Tuileries Gardens in Paris, seen from his home at 204 Rue de Rivoli. Pissarro had started his career as a realist and impressionist. Around 1885, he ‘converted’ to neo-impressionism, but by 1890 he returned to his earlier style. The Tuileries paintings are typical of Pissarro’s late impressionist style. In letters to his son Lucien, Pissarro described the renunciation of neo-impressionism as breaking free from the strait-jacket of neo-impressionist theory. His letters also contain extensive critical descriptions of the works of his former neo-impressionist comrades. His harshest attacks concern works by Paul Signac with explicitly anarchist meanings, though Pissarro himself continued to hold the same anarchist convictions. Several non-artistic considerations may have played a role in the creation of the Tuileries series: an eye disease forcing Pissarro to give up open-air painting and switch to views from the window; the insistence of his dealer Durand-Ruel that he paint these very saleable cityscapes; the politically charged nature of the park site; and the financial need to support his artist children. Working quickly in series guaranteed his income, but likely left little time for reflection.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    “Avec Luce chez Pissarro dans son appartement de la rue de Rivoli d’où, toujours dans sa fenêtre, il peint les Tuileries. Au mur, d´anciens toiles de lui montrent combien ses dernières sont inférieures. Vraiment, dans ces tons boueux, sales et plats, il n´y a plus aucune des qualités du beau coloriste qu’il était. […] On est tout attristé quand, quittant la réalité de la fenêtre, on retombe dans l’ interprétation lugubre du vieil artiste.” Quoted in Rewald (1953, 47).

  2. 2.

    Letter Camille Pissarro to Durand-Ruel, May 17, 1899. Pissarro (1991) (V), 26 (no. 1637). See also the list of Pissarro’s Tuileries paintings in Brettell/Pissarro (1992, 213–214). Camille Pissarro’s correspondence is published as: Correspondance de Camille Pissarro, edited by Janine Baily-Herzog: Tome I (1865–1885), Paris: Éditions du Valhermeil, 1980; Tome II (1886–1888), Paris: Éditions du Valhermeil, 1986; Tome III (1891–1894), Paris: Éditions du Valhermeil, 1988; Tome IV (1895–1898), Paris: Éditions du Valhermeil, 1989; Tome V (1899–1903), Saint-Ouen: l’Aumône 1991. Hereafter: Pissarro 1980 (I); Pissarro 1986 (II); Pissarro 1988 (III); Pissarro 1989 (IV); Pissarro 1991 (V).

  3. 3.

    “Les amis qui vous ont appris que j’avais fait de belles toiles des Tuileries sont bien indulgents. Je n’en suis pas bien satisfait. J’ai peu travaillé. Je lutte contre la vieillesse.” Quoted in Venturi (1939, 103).

  4. 4.

    Estimate based on Pissarro/Durand-Ruel Snollaerts (2005), and on Pissarro (1992, XXXVII).

  5. 5.

    “Je vous remercie d’avoir pensé à m’écrire pour mon anniversaire; j’espère et je ferai mon possible de suivre tranquillement ma destinée en bûchant le plus possible car ce fil qui me retient ici-bàs est bien près de se dérouler entièrement.” Camille Pissarro to his children, July 11, 1903. Pissarro 1991 (V), 358 (no. 2038).

  6. 6.

    “[…] un appartement rue de Rivoli 204, en face des Tuileries, avec une vue superbe du jardin, du Louvre à gauche, au fond des maisons, des quais derrière les arbres du jardin, à droite le dôme des Invalides, les clochers de Sainte-Clotilde derrière les massifs de marroniers, c’est très beau. J’aurai une belle série à faire.” Camille to Lucien Pissarro, December 4, 1898. Pissarro 1989 (IV), 522 (no. 1604).

  7. 7.

    As reported by Camille to Lucien Pissarro, January 22, 1899. Pissarro 1991 (V), 10 (no. 1621).

  8. 8.

    “Lorsque je commence un tableau, la première chose que je cherche à fixer, c’est l’accord. […] Ce qui m’ intéresse de moins en moins dans mon art, c’est le côté matériel de la peinture (les lignes). Le grand problème à résoudre, c’est de ramener tout, même les plus petits details du tableau, à l ‘harmonie de l’ensemble […].” Quoted in Venturi (1939, 101, 103).

  9. 9.

    Camille to Lucien Pissarro, August 19, 1898. Pissarro 1989 (IV), 504 (no. 1574).

  10. 10.

    Letters Camille to Lucien Pissarro, November 30, 1886, and January 8, 1887. Pissarro 1986 (II), 77 (no. 360), and 98 (no. 374). See also: Nochlin (1986, 5–6, 7–10).

  11. 11.

    “[…] je tiendrai ferme mon droit de suivre librement ma voie.” Camille to Lucien Pissarro, December 3, 1886. Pissarro 1986 (II), 80 (no. 361).

  12. 12.

    “… il faut croire que je n’étais pas fait pour cet art qui me donne du nivellement de la mort!”; “Oui, mon cher ami … de la mort: je n’y trouve pas l’harmonie. Je n’y trouve pas la vie moderne.” Camille Pissarro to Henry van de Velde, March 27, 1896. Pissarro (1989 (IV), 179–181) (Nos. 1223 and 1224).

  13. 13.

    “J’espère que vous avez oublié les points!!! […] C’est un terrible danger […].” Camille to Georges Pissarro, August 21, 1895. Pissarro 1989 (IV), 83 (no. 1147).

  14. 14.

    “J’en suis tellement malade que tous mes tableaux de l’époque de divisions systématiques […] me dégoûtent. J’en ressens l’influence jusqu’à 1894!!” Camille to Lucien Pissarro, April 8, 1895. Pissarro 1989 (IV), 56 (no. 1125).

  15. 15.

    Camille Pissarro to Octave Mirbeau, November 18, 1891. Quoted in Pissarro and Venturi (1939, 67).

  16. 16.

    Camille to Lucien Pissarro, November 9, 1895, April 11, 1895, and April 25, 1896. Pissarro 1989 (IV), 12, 61, 195 (Nos. 1100, 1127, 1238).

  17. 17.

    Camille to Lucien Pissarro, April 11, 1895. Pissarro 1989, IV, 61 (no. 1127). On this painting, see also: Hutton (1994, 139–142), Tibbe (2007, 96–102), Tibbe (2018, 27–28).

  18. 18.

    Camille Pissarro to Jean Grave, March 27, 1896. Pissarro 1989 (IV), 181 (no. 1225). See also: letters Camille Pissarro to Augustin Hamon 1893–1903, Archive Hamon, International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam (Nos. 459, 468, 471).

  19. 19.

    “Je suis à votre disposition pour le dessin que vous me demandez […].” Camille Pissarro to Jean Grave, March 31, 1897; May 4, 1900; December 11, 1901; and June 9, 1901. Pissarro 1989 (IV), 342 (no. 1385) and 1991 (V), 92, 184, 205 (Nos. 1711, 1830, 1864). For Les Temps Nouveaux, see Darbel (1987, 34–35, 14–16).

  20. 20.

    Camille Pissarro to Esther Isaacson, December 22, 1885. Pissarro 1980 (I), 369 (no. 304).

  21. 21.

    Camille to Lucien Pissarro, October 28, 1898; December 4, 14, and 27, 1898. Pissarro 1989 (IV), 514–515, 522–524 (Nos. 1594, 1604, 1605, 1606, 1608).

  22. 22.

    Camille to Lucien Pissarro, March 6, 1895, and September 2, 1896. Pissarro 1989 (IV), 41–43, 241–243 (Nos. 1117 and 1285).

  23. 23.

    For instance, Camille Pissarro to Paul Durand-Ruel, October 27, 1901. Pissarro 1991 (V), 199 (no. 1856). Similar letters are printed in Venturi (1939, 44–45).

  24. 24.

    Camille to Lucien Pissarro, Paris September 3, 1896. Pissarro 1989 (IV), 244–245 (no. 1287).

  25. 25.

    Camille to Lucien Pissarro, September 28, 1896. Pissarro 1989 (IV), 259–261 (no. 1304).

  26. 26.

    Camille to Esther Pissarro, October 5, 1897. Pissarro 1989 (IV), 379–380 (no. 1442).

  27. 27.

    Camille to Lucien Pissarro, November 4, 1896, and to Georges Pissarro, October 6, 1897. Pissarro 1989 (IV), 292 (no. 1336) and 381 (no. 1443); Camille to Rodolphe Pissarro, July 23, 1899, and October 19, 1901. Pissarro 1991 (V), 34 (no. 1644), and 197 (no. 1853).

  28. 28.

    Camille to Lucien Pissarro, April 2, 1901. Pissarro 1991 (V), 173–174 (no. 1812).

  29. 29.

    Camille Pissarro to Durand-Ruel, November 4, 1901, and November 11, 1903. Pissarro 1991 (V), 200 (no. 1858), and 314 (no. 1994).

  30. 30.

    Camille to Georges and Lucien Pissarro, November 3, 1902, and November 4, 1902. Pissarro 1991 (V), 278–280 (nos. 1957, 1958).

  31. 31.

    “Je n’accepte pas les prix que vous me faites.” Camille Pissarro to Durand-Ruel, January 18, 1903. Pissarro 1991 (V), 315 (no. 1997).

  32. 32.

    Camille Pissarro to Lucien Pissarro and to Dr. Elias, January 24, 1903, and January 25, 1903. Pissarro 1991 (V), 315–317 (nos. 1998, 1999).

  33. 33.

    33 Camille to Georges Pissarro, April 14, 1903. Pissarro 1991 (V), 330–331 (no. 2012); and to Lucien Pissarro, March 30, 1903, and May 26, 1903; June 17, 1903; Pissarro 1991 (V), 329–330, 338–339, 344 (nos. 2011, 2018, 2024).

  34. 34.

    “il faut absolument que je produise […].” Camille to Lucien Pissarro, June 9, 1903. Pissarro 1991 (V), 341 (no. 2021).

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  1. Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, Netherlands

    Lieske Tibbe

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  1. Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    Mette Gieskes

  2. Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    Mathilde Roza

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Tibbe, L. (2024). An Old Man Looking from the Window: Camille Pissarro, the Tuileries Garden Paintings, and Turning Points in His Career. In: Gieskes, M., Roza, M. (eds) Retrospection and Revision in Modern and Contemporary Art, Literature and Music. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-39598-7_7

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