Camille Pissarro, Two Women Chatting by the Sea, St. Thomas, 1856. Oil paint on canvas; 10 7/8 × 16 1/8 in. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.: Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, 1985.64.30. Image courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Impressionism in the Caribbean
Although the term “Impressionism” often evokes images of lively Parisian cafés and grand boulevards, Impressionist colleagues Camille Pissarro (b. St. Thomas, 1830) and Francisco Oller (b. Puerto Rico, 1833) possessed strong familial, professional, and personal connections to the Caribbean. Pissarro, an immigrant to France who never relinquished his foreign citizenship and Oller, a peripatetic, transatlantic traveler, were both born in the Caribbean on islands that today constitute territories of the present-day United States.
This lecture explores the impact of their Caribbean roots on their respective artistic trajectories examining how the aesthetics and ideology of French Impressionism were transmitted across the Atlantic as a result of their creative exchange.
For those who can't attend in person, this event will also be livestreamed. Virtual tickets are available now.
