Art History Talks Series continues Tuesday, Feb 12 with Rebecca Albiani. (TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE) Tickets: $14/$18

Camille Pissarro was the oldest member of the core Impressionist group and the only one to exhibit in all eight Impressionist exhibitions between 1874 and 1886. But he was an outsider on two counts; he was born in the Danish West Indies, and he was Jewish. Perhaps because of his committed socialist beliefs, Pissarro pulled away from the world of bourgeois leisure depicted by his contemporaries and preferred to depict rural labor. One reviewer of the first Impressionist exhibition was shocked that Pissarro chose to include such vulgar content as cabbages. An Impressionist painting of peasants tending their crops, will almost certainly be a Pissarro, not a Monet or Renoir.

Pissarro mentored many younger painters, including Cezanne, Gauguin and Van Gogh. He was dedicated to experimentation in art, a philosophy that caused him significant financial difficulties. In fact, he never achieved a comfortable financial existence, but he still encouraged his children to become artists. For Pissarro, pursuing art was the most worthwhile path to follow.

Vashon Allied Arts
19704 Vashon Hwy SW Vashon
206-463-5131
www.vashonalliedarts.org