1345 - Camille Pissarro (1830 Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands – 1903 Paris)

Camille Pissarro (1830 Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands – 1903 Paris) Port de La Guaira A vast coastal landscape overlooking the Bay of La Guaira, featuring a sloping mountain range and a faintly suggested city skyline, while in the foreground a few sailboats lie at anchor. An early and rare work, executed with precise lines and a subtle rendering of atmospheric light, which Pissarro created during his two-year journey through Venezuela, undertaken together with his artist friend Fritz Melbye from 1852 to 1854. It was also Melbye who consistently encouraged his friend artistically, prompting Pissarro to move to Paris in 1855. At the World’s Fair there, he admired works by, among others, Eugène Delacroix, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, and Camille Corot, whom he had the opportunity to meet in person and whose confidant and student he became. In 1859, Pissarro met Claude Monet, Paul Cézanne, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir at the Académie Suisse, with whom he later collaborated closely. In 1874, he was one of the driving forces behind the first Impressionist exhibition and participated in subsequent exhibitions until 1886. Watercolor over pencil on handmade paper. Monogram stamp in black (Lugt 613e) on the reverse, as well as a date in pencil: 1853. 12 cm x 35.3 cm. Framed. Provenance: The artist’s estate; German private collection; according to tradition, acquired in France in the late 1950s; has remained in the family ever since through inheritance. Watercolor and pencil on laid paper. Monogram stamp in black (Lugt 613e) and dated 1853 in pencil.