Paulemile Pissarro, French (1884 - 1972)

Paulémile Pissarro, Camille Pissarro’s youngest son, was born in Éragny in 1884, where he was brought up within the creative environment of his family. Paulémile’s godfather was Claude Monet, who became his teacher and legal guardian after Camille died in 1903.

In 1905, Paulémile exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants for the first time. Although his father had supported Paulémile’s desire to be an artist, his mother was eager for him to learn a more practical trade. Therefore, in 1908, he put aside his artistic pursuits to work as an automobile mechanic and test-driver, then later as a lace and textile designer, allowing him only a limited time to paint. Paulémile only fully dedicated himself to painting following a letter from his brother Lucien in London. He wrote to invite Paulemile to take part in an exhibition held in London. Subsequent to the successful sale of a number of watercolors he had sent over, the young artist became inspired to leave the textile factory and pursue an art career.

By the 1920s, Paulémile had become an established Post-Impressionist artist in his own right, spending the summer months escaping from Paris on painting trips with fellow artists Kees Van Dongen, Raoul Dufy, Maurice de Vlaminck and André Dunoyer de Segonzac. In 1922, Paulémile purchased a house in Lyons-la-Forêt, a small village within the region of his hometown of Éragny and Giverny, where he moved in with his first wife Berthe Bennaiche. During this time, he developed a form of Cubism inspired by Paul Cézanne whom he dearly admired, creating some wonderful paintings of the river Eure and its surrounding villages.

With his second wife Yvonne Beaupel, Paulémile eventually moved to Clécy in 1935, where he would remain for the rest of his life. Of their three children, both H. Claude and Yvon also became artists.

With his house backing onto the river Orne, Paulémile developed a new way of working using a boat as a floating studio, where he spent countless days painting the calm waters from between the riverbanks. Here, the influence of his godfather Claude Monet became apparent, particularly in Paulémile’s depiction of water, which was revolutionized by the Impressionist icon. He also painted his lush gardens and the neighboring hayfields, various snow scenes, some interiors and still lives. The most ambitious work in his oeuvre was a fresco painted on all four walls of his dining room, depicting the adjacent river in which he includes family members, neighbors and friends.

In 1967, Paulémile had his first one-man show in the United States at Wally Findlay Galleries in New York. This led to widespread recognition and a degree of professional success that few Pissarro artists knew during their lifetime. Since his death in 1972, Paulémile remains one of the best-known of Camille’s sons.