Country Houses by Lelia Pissarro

Lelia Pissarro (French, B. 1963), Oil on paper, signed lower right and dated 2005. Presented with a linen fillet. and framed in a carved and antiqued finished wood frame.. 7 1/4"H x 12"W. Framed: 17 1/4"H x 22"W Lelia was born in 1963, and has painted since age four, having been educated by her grandfather, Paulemile and her father, Claude Pissarro. Following an 18 month break from painting one simple image captured her imagination; a photograph taken in the 1950s by her grandfather, Paulemile Pissarro, of two houses on a road under snow in Clecy in Suisse Normandy, where Lelia had spent the first 11 years of her life. Lelia started to paint this scene over and over, exploring the almost endless possibilities of variation in color and light. It was not her intention to paint a series, but this is what it became. In contrast to the Impressionists who were mainly concerned with capturing one subject in changing atmospheres and lights, something that could only be achieved by painting outdoors, she has created all the variations of the one subject in her studio and through her own imagination. For this reason, she is adamant that there should be no unnecessary or pretentious comparison of the work in this exhibition with the many series painted by Monet or her great grandfather, Camille Pissarro.