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What views of Paris did Camille Pissarro paint from hotel and apartment windows?
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Camille Pissarro
Self-Portrait, oil on canvas by Camille Pissarro, 1873; in the Musée d'Orsay, Paris.
During his later years, Camille Pissarro frequently utilized upper-story windows as vantage points for his series paintings of Paris, a practice he adopted partly because failing eyesight made painting outdoors increasingly difficult.12
His urban series included:
- Boulevard Montmartre: Pissarro painted a famous series of fourteen oil-on-canvas views of this thoroughfare from his rented room in the Grand Hôtel de Russie during the winter and spring of 1897. These works, such as The Boulevard Montmartre on a Winter Morning, Boulevard Montmartre, Twilight, and The Boulevard Montmartre at Night, explored the changing effects of light, weather, and time of day.12
- Gare Saint-Lazare: His first series of Parisian views during this period was painted from a hotel window located opposite this railway station, which served as his point of arrival from Eragny.2
By working from these elevated positions, Pissarro was able to capture the bustling movement of the city while maintaining the Impressionist focus on light and atmospheric conditions.12