Camille Pissarro

Camille Pissarro was a painter and a founding figure of French Impressionism. Born on the Danish West Indian island of St. Thomas, he was schooled near Paris, briefly worked in his family's commerce, and painted alongside Fritz Melbye in Venezuela before settling in France in 1855. He worked in rural communities such as Pontoise and Éragny-sur-Epte, took refuge in London during the Franco-Prussian War, and exhibited in all eight Impressionist group shows. Later he explored a Neo-Impressionist, pointillist technique before returning to looser handling. Widely regarded as a mentor to younger artists, he mentored Cézanne and Gauguin, advised van Gogh, and in turn adopted the pointillist technique of the younger Seurat.