Born in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands but moved to Paris in 1855 where he studied with the French landscape painter Camille Corot. He was first associated with the Barbizon School but later turned to Impressionism, exhibiting in all of their exhibitions.

During the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871) he lived in England where he studied the art of their master painters. He was particularly influenced by the work of J.M.W.Turner. In the 1880s, Pissarro experimented with pointillism. His work in this style proved unpopular with collectors and dealers and he returned to his earlier freer style.

His students and associates include a who's who of the Parisian art world of the day -- Mary Cassatt, Paul Gauguin, Paul Cézanne, and his son, Lucien Pissarro. His favorite subject matters were landscapes, river scenes, and street scenes of Paris, Le Havre, and London. His prolific output included paintings such as Bather in the Woods 1895, watercolours, and graphics.

Painting Secrets of the Masters
Pissarro, one of the earliest Impressionists, eliminated blacks, browns and ocher's from his palette. His basic palette was limited to seven tube colours:

White lead, Ultramarine Blue, Cobalt Blue, Cobalt Violet, Chrome Yellow, Vermilion, Rose Madder.

His advice to Cézanne regarding colour was, "Never paint except with the three primary colours and their immediate derivatives." -- which explains the lack of green in his palette. His painting style was also dependent on visual colour mixing which distinguished him as one of the most innovative artists of his time,

His influences included Turner, Constable, Corot and Courbet and, as he experimented more with colour, his palette became lighter in colour and he created luminous effects with dashes and daubs of pure colour.

Camille Pissarro