Pissarro, Camille 1830-1903
French Impressionist artist

Born in St Thomas, West Indies, he went in 1855 to Paris, where he was much influenced by Jean Corot's landscapes. In 1870 he lived in England for a short time, this being the first of several visits. Most of his works were painted in the countryside around Paris, and he lived in Pontoise from 1872 to 1884. In the next year he met Paul Signac and Georges Seurat and for the next five years adopted their Divisionist style. Pissarro was the leader of the original Impressionists, and the only one to exhibit at all eight of the Group exhibitions in Paris (1874-86). He had considerable influence on C�zanne and Paul Gauguin at the beginning of their artistic careers. His famous painting of the Boulevard Montmartre by night (1897) is in the National Gallery, London.