CAMILLE PISSARRO'S YOUTH

Jacob Camille Pissarro was born on July 10, 1830 in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas (today part of the US Virgin Islands). His father was named Abraham Gabriel Pissarro who was a Sephardic Jew but with the French nationality. Camille's mother was Rachel Manzano-Pomié, originating from the Dominican Republic.

Pissarro lived, together with his parents, on the isle St. Thomas until age 12, when he was sent to France to attend to a boarding school. After six years in France, Camille Pissarro returned to his parents where he worked in his father's store. Meanwhile Pissarro spent most of his free time drawing and painting.

In 1852, at age 22, Pissarro decided to leave for Caracas with Danish painter Fritz Melbye, who became his first serious artistic influence.


CAMILLE PISSARRO AS AN ARTIST

Finally in 1855 Camille Pissarro decided to move to the centre of the artistic world: Paris. In Paris Pissarro had the chance to discover the works of such artists as Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot, Gustave Courbet, and Charles-François Daubigny.

Though Pissarro was officially accepted by the Salon (and he exhibited with them in the 1860's), he also exhibited at the Salon des Refusés.

Nearing 1870 Camille Pissarro moved to Louveciennes (a suburb of Paris), where he worked together with other great impressionists such as Claude Monet and Pierre Auguste Renoir. Pissarro then moved in 1870 for a brief period to London because of the Franco-Prussian War.

Back in France, Pissarro settled in Pontoise, where he was the teacher of young artists, such as Paul Cézanne and Paul Gauguin. In 1885 Pissarro suffered because of an artistic crisis. By meeting up and sharing ideas with young artists gave Pissarro a different view on art.


CAMILLE PISSARO'S LAST YEARS

In the last years of his life, Pissarro experienced eye trouble, which forced him to abandon outdoor painting. He continued to work in his studio until his death in Paris on November 13, 1903. Pissarro was buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.