
Fishmarket1902
This impressive view of a bustling fish market belongs to a series of paintings that Pissarro made during the summer of 1902 depicting the harbor at Dieppe. More about this work
About this work
This impressive view of a bustling fish market belongs to a series of paintings that Pissarro made during the summer of 1902 depicting the harbor at Dieppe. Borrowing from the Impressionist method of portraying a modern city from a high vantage point, he enlivened the scene with rich, vibrant colors applied with energetic, broken brushstrokes. Ever concerned with the fleeting effects of atmosphere, Pissarro painted the interpenetration of industrial steam with the clouds in the brilliant, sunlit sky.
Text from the Cleveland Museum of Art.
How it was made
- Oil paint
- Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.
Camille Pissarro
French, 1830–1903 · Born in Charlotte Amalie, Saint Thomas; died in Paris.
Pissarro was born on the Caribbean island of Saint Thomas and moved to France in 1855. Encouraged by Corot, he became the elder statesman of Impressionism, the only painter to show at all eight of the group’s exhibitions, and a generous mentor to Cézanne and Gauguin. He painted the villages and fields around Pontoise and Éragny, briefly adopted Seurat’s divided brushwork, and in his last decade made series of Paris, Rouen and Le Havre seen from hotel windows.
Written by Ochre Editions.
Impressionism
Painters in 1870s Paris who worked quickly, often outdoors, to catch light as it changed.
Rights and the museum’s record
Public domain. The Cleveland Museum of Art has dedicated this image to the public domain under CC0, so anyone may copy, adapt and use it, for any purpose, without asking. Our prints and files are reproductions made from the museum’s image; the museum doesn’t endorse them.
- Object number
- 2020.113
- Credit
- Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
- Type
- Painting
- Department
- Modern European Painting and Sculpture
- Licence
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Museum record
- See it on the museum’s site













