EXHIBITION ON SCREEN – PISSARRO: Father of Impressionism

A film by David Bickerstaff

Without Camille Pissarro, there is no Impressionist movement. He is rightfully known as the father of Impressionism.

Born in the West Indies, Pissarro found his passion in paint as a young man in Paris, and by the age of 43 had corralled a group of enthusiastic artists into a new collective. Their first show was scorned by the critics, but the group had acquired a new name: the Impressionists. For the next 40 years Pissarro was the driving force behind what has today become the world’s favourite artistic movement. Pissarro was a dedicated family man, generous with his advice, passionate about experimentation, well-read, astute, socially aware and an anarchist.

It was a dramatic path that Pissarro followed, and throughout it all he wrote extensively to his family. It is through these intimate and revealing letters that this gripping film reveals Pissarro’s life and work.

Filmed on location in France, and at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford and the Kunstmuseum Basel. With exclusive access to most extensive archive of any Impressionist painter, and to the first major Pissarro retrospective in four decades, this film explores and highlights the enthralling and hugely important biography and output of an incredible artist.

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish, Dutch
Running time: 94 mins
No. of DVDs: 1