Pissarro’s Omissions

Camille Pissarro (1830-1903) boasted an interesting early career. Although born on the island of Saint Thomas, Pissarro was exposed to artistic training at a young age in a French boarding school. After resolving not to work in his father’s business, Pissarro ventured to Paris in 1855 to continue his artistic training (Becker et al. 3). Although initially involved in the Impressionist movement, Pissarro responded adversely to the Industrialization of France and soon became associated with the Neo-Impressionists. The Impressionists “were indifferent to social questions in spite of their struggle for recognition in a hostile society,” whereas Pissarro wanted to become more directly involved with creating propaganda to further the anarchist cause (Herbert and Herbert 474). Pissarro saw himself as a part of the ideal social class, and attempted to extoll the agrarian virtues of his surroundings.  Therefore, Pissarro’s work addressed “the actions of nature and man’s relationship to the land, the relationship that was central to Pissarro’s anarchist conceptions of human society” (Ward 173). Such politicized themes were especially evident in the works which Pissarro created during his stay in Pontoise.