National Gallery of Art - EXHIBITIONS
Pissarro on Paper
September 30, 2012–March 31, 2013

Related Resources

Works by
Camille Pissarro
in the Gallery's Collection

Press Materials

Image: George Bellows Both Members of This Club, 1909 Chester Dale Collection 1944.13.1 French Impressionist painter Camille Pissarro first tried printmaking in his early thirties, and though he never stopped painting, printing became vital to his artistic enterprise. He valued the ease with which he could test new ideas, and he became increasingly innovative as he grew more comfortable with different printing techniques. The purchase of his own etching press in 1894 facilitated his efforts, which resulted in more than two hundred plates.

This one-room installation highlights Pissarro's spirited experimentation, as well as his gravitation—in all media—toward depicting landscape and the people who inhabited rural farms and towns. Rather than meticulously reproducing what he saw, he sought to capture the mood and essence of his subjects. On both paper and canvas, Pissarro masterfully played with surface textures and variations of compositional density to create descriptive and evocative visual imagery. His energetic methods for printmaking—dabbing, rubbing, dragging—and his range of materials for all media—palette knives, brushes of different sizes, even his bare hands—all contribute to the dynamism of his works.

Organization: Organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington.

Schedule: National Gallery of Art, Washington, September 30, 2012–March 31, 2013

Passes: Passes are not required for this exhibition.

The installation is on view in the East Building of the National Gallery of Art, Ground Level.