Camille Pissaro and Friends at the Norton Simon

On Monday, after lunch with Dan in the Gardens, I roamed around the Norton Simon Impressionist paintings.  I was particularly interested in the Camille Pissaro paintings as these are favorites of my friend Doug in Ohio.  I also revisited several paintings that POPed out at me.

"Landscape with Flock of Sheep" 1889 and 1902 by Camille Pissarro (1830-1903)
The description state that in pristine condition  this painting asserts Pissaro's position as the paterfamilias of the Impressionist group.  "The fluttering texture of brushwork and the luminosity of his pigment are unsullied by restoration or varnish.  This allows the subtleties of tone- - from the variations in ochres and browns in the grasses to the grays, blues and whites in the cloudy northern French sky--to conjure this simple pastoral scene."
One longs for an opportunity to walk though this pasture with the sounds of the rustling sheep and a light breeze through the grasses.

"The Boulevard des Fosses, Pontise," 1872
The description states that after seeking refuge in London during the Franco-Prussian War, Pissarro and his family returned to France in 1972 and decided to settle in Pontoise, a small town northwest of Paris where they had loved over four years earlier.  Shortly after they arrived, Pissarro created a series of townscapes that appear to explore the town with fresh eyes.  "The Boulevard desFosses os one such work, painted en plein air (outside)with and attention to atmosphere and a loose handling of paint--two signatures of the Impressionionist movement."

"View of Berneval," 1900
"This picturesque view is one of seven completed by Camille Pissarro during his visit to Berneval from July to Septemben, 1900.  Here the passage through the seaside town begins in the garden of the Grand Hotel, where Pissarro stayed.  An elevated perspective allows the spectator to stroll past the trees and scattered chalets toward the jagged cliffs that give way to the ocean in the distance."

"The Poultry Market of Pontoise," 1881
"With a surface that recalls the shimmering light and color of the Impressionists while simultaneously predicting the soon-to-unfold color experiments of the Neo-Impressioists, "The Poultry Market at Pontoise" sits at one of the many transitional moments in the work of Pissarro.  An artist was constantly challenging himself to change, Pissarro worked during the 1870's alongside Claude Monet, whose paintings were synonymous with Impressionism.  But by the mid-1880's, Pissarro had begun to turn his attention to the more structured work of the Neo-Impressionists George Seurat and Paul Signac.  For a time, Pissarro would join their cause by expanding on the technique employed in this canvas of using multiple dots of color to create a pulsating but uniform hue from afar.  The painting, with it's steep horizon and three large central figures that instantly draw the viewer into the bustling scene, was Pissarro's first major market scene, and it is one of only a small group of figure paintings executed by an artist who was most often a painter of landscapes."