First Impressionists Last Longest, Art Gallery Discovers

Sydney Morning Herald

Wednesday November 16, 2005

Sunanda Creagh

When 19th-century impressionist Camille Pissarro returned to Paris after the Franco-Prussian war, he discovered that German soldiers had made a boardwalk out of 300 of his paintings.

Despite his experiences with war, you won't find any biting social commentary in Pissarro's paintings.

"You rarely see in a Pissarro or a Monet the effects of the war that had recently taken place," said Scott Schaefer, an impressionist expert from the J. Paul Getty museum in Los Angeles.

"There's something very reassuring about impressionist painting. They presented an ideal world, they chose to depict real views but often eliminated things that had been damaged during the war."

Schaefer has escorted two paintings to Sydney to feature in the Art Gallery of NSW's Pissarro: The first Impressionist showcase, which opens on Saturday. Pissarro's great-grandsons, Joachim and Lionel, will open the blockbuster show.

"I've seen a lot of Pissarro exhibitions but this is a very comprehensive one," said Schaefer. "I think most of the pictures in this exhibition would be in the million-dollar range."

Schaefer said it was rare for the Getty to allow impressionist paintings overseas because of the danger of damage.

"There are risks whenever you lend a work, the same risks that you face whenever you get in an aeroplane yourself," he said.

The paintings are padded and packed into 250-kilogram wooden crates with three lids.

"We are nervous even seeing it loaded into the plane," he said.

Pissarro, considered a founding father of impressionism, was the only painter to take part in all eight of the important impressionist exhibitions held in Paris between 1874 and 1886.

Despite the central role he played in the movement, Pissarro still suffered from discrimination.

"He was still thought of as a Jewish artist," said Schaefer.

"He was, in a sense, an outsider. Degas, for example, was anti-Semitic and while they worked together and participated in exhibitions together, we know what Degas felt about him."

© 2005 Sydney Morning Herald

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