Pathway

1872–1884

Life in Pontoise

Back in France, Pissarro lived in Pontoise from 1872 to 1884, where he painted a great many pictures, keeping in touch with fellow artists, above all Monet, Renoir and Cézanne.

1880s

Theo van Gogh asks him to take in Vincent

The art dealer Theo van Gogh asked Pissarro whether he would take his elder brother Vincent as a lodger in his house; according to his son Lucien, Pissarro was impressed by Van Gogh's work, foresaw his fame and explained to him different ways of seeking and expressing light and colour.

1880s

A search for something new: peasant labour without idealisation

By the 1880s some Impressionists felt the movement had exhausted itself, and Pissarro returned to scenes of country life, showing people at work without idealising them; in 1882 Renoir called these works “revolutionary”.

27 agosto 1881

Daughter born: Jeanne Bonin-Pissarro

22 agosto 1884

Son born: Paul-Émile Pissarro

April 1884

Settles at Éragny-sur-Epte

In April 1884 Pissarro and his family settled at Éragny-sur-Epte, a village near Gisors, where he lived for the rest of his life; he wrote to his son Lucien that the house was superb, with a garden and meadows. The house, garden, orchard, meadows and farm workers became recurring subjects for the last nineteen years of his career.