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Lot Essay
Pissarro presented this work as a gift to his doctor, Dr George de Bellio. De Bellio was a Romanian homeopathic physician and a loyal collector of works by the Impressionists. On occasion he made timely purchases of works by Pissarro as well as providing free medicine and advice. Such purchases were particularly necessary for Pissarro since by the end of the 1880s Pissarro's family was virtually penniless. Pissarro's sixth child was born in November of 1878, a few months after the death of Piette, their friend and benefactor in Montfoucault. Pissarro expressed his general despair in a note to the critic Théodore Duret "So you see business is dreadful. Soon I shall be old, my eyesight will be failing, and I shall be no better off than I was twenty years ago" (quoted in: R. E. Shikes & P. Harper, Pissarro his Life and Work, New York, 1980, p. 144).
As the fourth Impressionist exhibition approached in 1879 other Impressionist artists were feeling similar financial pressures. The art market was swamped with landscapes and with a certain shrewdness Pissarro turned to figurative and genre pieces. Le Père Melon allumant sa pipe is an excellent example of this period. Duret had advised Pissarro to hire models and to put more emphasis on the human figure in his paintings. In response Pissarro had said "I have always thought about painting, as you advise me to do....the thing is to find a suitable person in the proper character who would be willing to pose". It is clear Le Père Melon was exactly such a character, and consequently he features in a number of Pissarro's works of 1880 (see Figs. 1 & 2).
Sold with a certificate from the Wildenstein Institute dated 'Paris, le 23 Juillet 1998'.
To be included in the forthcoming Camille Pissarro Catalogue raisonné being prepared by Joachim Pissarro and Claire Durand-Ruel Snollaerts under the sponsorship of the Wildenstein Institute.
As the fourth Impressionist exhibition approached in 1879 other Impressionist artists were feeling similar financial pressures. The art market was swamped with landscapes and with a certain shrewdness Pissarro turned to figurative and genre pieces. Le Père Melon allumant sa pipe is an excellent example of this period. Duret had advised Pissarro to hire models and to put more emphasis on the human figure in his paintings. In response Pissarro had said "I have always thought about painting, as you advise me to do....the thing is to find a suitable person in the proper character who would be willing to pose". It is clear Le Père Melon was exactly such a character, and consequently he features in a number of Pissarro's works of 1880 (see Figs. 1 & 2).
Sold with a certificate from the Wildenstein Institute dated 'Paris, le 23 Juillet 1998'.
To be included in the forthcoming Camille Pissarro Catalogue raisonné being prepared by Joachim Pissarro and Claire Durand-Ruel Snollaerts under the sponsorship of the Wildenstein Institute.