The Norton Simon Museum located in Pasadena, California is home to a vast collection of artistic work ranging from hundreds of years old and from across the world. In the 19th century section of the museum, one can find works ranging from the Realist, Impressionist, and even some Post-Impressionist works. One notable artist from the aforementioned periods was Camille Pissarro, an Impressionist artist, who lived from 1830 to 1903 (Norton). Pissarro’s The Boulevard des Fosses, Pontoise, completed in 1872, is an oil on canvas painting proudly displayed in the Norton Simon. The painting is approximately 46.4 x 55.6 centimeters (Norton). Pissarro’s The Boulevard des Fosses, Pontoise accurately captures the essence of the Impressionist style through
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The term Impressionist refers to an artist’s attempt to capture the “fleeting moment” of everyday life (Kleiner 849). The Boulevard des Fosses, Pontoise captures the afternoon moments of people walking down the sidewalks with a horse-drawn carriage ready to pass by the audience, making this an Impressionist piece. One common characteristic of Impressionist artists like Pissarro is that most painted in what is known as en plein air, which means to paint outside and usually during one sitting (Rusch). From the perspective of Pissarro, it is clear that he is painting en plein air as the viewers are placed on the sidewalk alongside the trees, sidewalk, and road.
These methods of capturing everyday life and painting en plein air can be illustrated through Pissarro’s The Boulevard des Fosses, Pontoise in which people are walking down the sidewalks and being drawn by the horse-drawn carriage. Also, there is nothing about Pissarro’s painting that is not Impressionist. Both the title and painting’s subject matter are characteristic of the Impressionist …show more content…
The story that Pissarro is conveying in his work is people are enjoying their leisure time. Pissarro did not have to make it seem this way because that is what was actually happening. Because the painting includes a small number of people, it gives the viewers a sense of peacefulness. Thanks to the sky’s blue-green color, it appears as this painting was done during the afternoon, perhaps on a Sunday afternoon. The blue-green sky is juxtaposed with the orange-red leaves and building roofs that supports this writer’s theory of the purpose of the
The term Impressionist refers to an artist’s attempt to capture the “fleeting moment” of everyday life (Kleiner 849). The Boulevard des Fosses, Pontoise captures the afternoon moments of people walking down the sidewalks with a horse-drawn carriage ready to pass by the audience, making this an Impressionist piece. One common characteristic of Impressionist artists like Pissarro is that most painted in what is known as en plein air, which means to paint outside and usually during one sitting (Rusch). From the perspective of Pissarro, it is clear that he is painting en plein air as the viewers are placed on the sidewalk alongside the trees, sidewalk, and road.
These methods of capturing everyday life and painting en plein air can be illustrated through Pissarro’s The Boulevard des Fosses, Pontoise in which people are walking down the sidewalks and being drawn by the horse-drawn carriage. Also, there is nothing about Pissarro’s painting that is not Impressionist. Both the title and painting’s subject matter are characteristic of the Impressionist …show more content…
The story that Pissarro is conveying in his work is people are enjoying their leisure time. Pissarro did not have to make it seem this way because that is what was actually happening. Because the painting includes a small number of people, it gives the viewers a sense of peacefulness. Thanks to the sky’s blue-green color, it appears as this painting was done during the afternoon, perhaps on a Sunday afternoon. The blue-green sky is juxtaposed with the orange-red leaves and building roofs that supports this writer’s theory of the purpose of the