Around the time that artist Lucien Pissarro (1863-1944) and his wife, Esther, had their only child, a daughter they named Orovida, in 1893, a little girl appeared in several of Pissarro's works. Recently, Adventures In The Print Trade featured a print by Pissarro titled Little May - and there she is agai
n.Is May a mystery or is she simply a failure of research on my part? (I vote for choice number two.) In any case, these works form a charming tribute to wonder, of childhood, of spring.
Images:1. Queen Of The Fishes-In The Field, 1894, color woodcut, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Australia.
2. Crocuses, oil on canvas, private collection, UK.
3. The Fairy, 1894, oil on canvas, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, UK.
11 comments:
These are absolutely charming. Very touching work - magical, mystical. Evocative of spring. Thank you!
Heisann!
Pissarro is my favorite in impressionisme, their father in painting!
Jeanne, being a bit of a Francophile, I chose works that were created before Lucien Pissarro became thoroughly anglicized.
Hello, V. Lucien's daughter Orovida also became an artist. I saw the Camille Pissarro exhibition at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts in the 1980s and this brought back happy memories of his painting of a little girl playing among the flowers.
It seems quite likely that the girl is Orovida, but "Little Orovida" would not have been an attractive title to the general public.
Neil, according to information at the website of the Stern Pissarro Gallery in London, Orivida was born in 1893. That's why I assumed that the little girl was someone else known by Pissarro. There's a similarity to her hair and body language from image to image that makes me think this is one and the same individual.
Yes, that sounds a bit late. The date I have for the Little May image is circa 1890 (that's from Lora Urbanelli, The Wood Engravings of Lucien Pissarro), though I think dating his work is an inexact art, as his style didn't change much. So maybe this is the daughter of close friends.
Another thing that I neglected to mention is that this little girl appears to be about seven or eight years old, which would be Orovida in the next century. My hunch is that a little girl named May caught the vibrating attention of the artist She seems more real than an idealization.
Another thing that I neglected to mention is that this little girl appears to be about seven or eight years old, which would be Orovida in the next century. My hunch is that a little girl named May caught the vibrating attention of the artist She seems more real than an idealization.
Oi, Jane!
Seu blog é muito charmoso. A beleza da arte em suas várias nuances o tornou assim.
quando tiver um tempinho visite o meu, ok?
Felicidades em 2013.
Thank you, Tia Lillian. I shall visit your website today. Portuguese is a beautiful language and the most difficult Romance language for English speakers to learn.
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