Art: Humble & Colossal

In commenting upon the exhibition on display last week at Paris' Durand-Ruel Gallery, Critic Pierre Cabanne of the weekly Arts neatly summed up the fate of Impressionist Camille Pissarro. He is largely ignored, said Cabanne, "for not having the ardour of Cezanne, the sensuality of Renoir, the brilliance of Sisley, the visual sharpness of Degas, the fullness of Monet's conception." At first glance, Pissarro's work does seem to lack the dazzle of his colleagues', but after longer study, the full truth emerges. Far from lacking the virtues of the others, he had them all under firm and quiet control. Indeed, he...

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