Stroke of Genius

SAMIR SAMMOUN S T R O K E

O F

G E N I U S

Samir Sammoun, Head of the Charles I, 30” x 36” ”

Paulémile Pissarro, Port en Bessin, 18” x 15”

FEATURING HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE CAMILLE PISSARRO FAMILY COLLECTION SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 2018

Galerie d’Orsay

SAMIR SAMMOUN STROKE OF GENIUS

FEATURING HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE CAMILLE PISSARRO FAMILY COLLECTION

SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 2018

JOIN US FOR OUR COLLECTOR’S RECEPTION FOR AN EVENING WITH THE ARTISTS: SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 6 - 8 PM RSVP REQUESTED 617.266.8001 I info@galerie-dorsay.com As Boston prepares for the most spirited rowing event of the year, The Head of the Charles, Galerie d’Orsay is thrilled to premiere a collection of original paintings by internationally celebrated artist, Samir Sammoun, capturing the regatta alongside the picturesque Charles River.

Complementing our Stroke of Genius Exhibition are highlights from the legendary Pissarro Family Collection. Meet artist Lyora Pissarro, great-great-granddaughter to the Father of Impressionism-Camille Pissarro, and consider paintings spanning five generations from this prominent Pissarro family. Join us in celebrating the Impressionist Landscape this September, and experience one of the finest painters continuing in the Impressionist tradition in company with the birth of Impressionist landscapes. With both artists Samir Sammoun and Lyora Pissarro present on September 29th, you’ll want to RSVP early!

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SAMIR SAMMOUN The Willow, Boston Park, 40” x 30”

Samir Sammoun was born August 10, 1952 in Lebanon’s charming village Joun, which translates to “The place where the sea penetrates the land.” It was the emotionally charged evacuation of his village that lead Samir, at the age of 13, to discover his passion for painting and drawing. “I still keep the vivid memory of this enchanting country of dreams where during the months of March and April the Spring-time fields are carpeted in bloodred poppies and in the autumn months we picked olives from the ancient groves with their ancient and twisted tree trunks. I most cherish the memory of the vibrant vision of the rustling and teeming wheat fields ready for harvest.”

A great colorist by nature, Samir Sammoun possesses a rich palette that features more than 30 shades and tones, providing the necessary foundation for his soft point and long-handled brushwork. He routinely works on either a jute canvas (rough surface) or a linen canvas (smooth surface). From an aesthetic point of view, Sammoun’s desired artistic goal is to render a natural texture on the canvas. To achieve this, he practices his own techniques in applying layers of paint; superimposing colorful and vibrant touches, often using varying tones and blending different shades.

The use of successive and frequent brush strokes in this technique is what, more than anything else, distinguishes the Sammounesque style of painting. At times these pronounced strokes produce vibrant variations of color that manifest themselves on the canvas, producing a fascinating iridescent effect. Sammoun saturates his brush with different tones, which are circulated with powerful strokes using a side-to-side manner on his palette. The multitude of rich color pigments stimulate the eye, projecting a glimmer of brilliant color variations.

Detail of Head of the Charles, on the riverside, 30� x 40�

HEAD OF THE CHARLES

Stroke of Genuis

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Head of the Charles, le pont des artists, 24” x 30”

First held on October 16, 1965, the Head Of The Charles Regatta is the world’s largest two-day rowing event.Since 1965, the Head Of The Charles Regatta has grown tremendously. Today, more than 11,000 athletes from around the world compete in 55 different race events. In 1997, the Regatta grew to a two-day event and now attracts thousands of spectators during race weekend in October. Support from numerous boat clubs, colleges and of Nature: The Reflection, 48” x 48” of Nature: Through the volunteers Woods, 48” x 48” universities, the Department The of Pace Conservation and Recreation (DCR), as well The as Pace 1,700 hardworking help make the HOCR a continued success year after year.

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Head of the Charles, and the city, 30 “ x 40”

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The Pace of Nature: The Gathering, 48” x 48” Detail of Head of the Charles, under the dome, 20” x 24”

Soleil et Lavandes, 48” x 40”

Before Sunset, 52” x 52”

Stroke of Genuis

Spring Wonder, 60” x 60” Green wheat field and wild lavender , 16” x 20”

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Reflections of the Garden, 48” x 48” Lavender and mustard field, 12” x 16”

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Other World, 52” x 52” Boston Park, 24” x 30”

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Before Sunset, 52” x 52” Tulips, Boston Park, 24” x 30”

Passing Light, 48” x 48” Detail of Commonwealth Avenue, Fall, 30” x 40”

Wheat Field, 30” x 36” Reflections On A Garden 3, 48” x 48”

Stroke of Genuis

Autumn, Birches, 36” x 30”

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Clockwise: White Note Study, 8” x 10”; Lavende, etude, 10” x 8”, Champ de ble, Laprairies, etude, 10” x 8”; The Sea Florida Study, 8” x 10”

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Stroke of Genuis

Detail of Apple Orchard, Ste-Hilaire, 24” x 30”

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Promenade, neige, 30” x 30”

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Stroke of Genuis

Siesta sous l’arbre , 30” x 24”

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CAMILLE PISSARRO Color Boundaries 59, 31.5” x 24.5” Detail of Baigneuses, Le Jour, 5” x 8”

Camille Pissarro was the Impressionist printmaker “par excellence”. Through a creative use of technique and imagery, he recorded his perceptions of his environment with clarity and honesty. As a result, his prints are among the most rewarding to come out of the 19th century, and they distinctively represent the art of his time. As is frequently the case, Pissarro had to persevere in his desire to be an artist. He was born in the West Indies, but attended school in Paris where he became interested in drawing. At age seventeen, he returned to Saint Thomas in order to enter the family business, but five years later, he rebelled and ran off to Venezuela. Finally, when he was twenty-five, his family consented to his chosen career and he settled in Paris in order to study art. At first he was guided by Corot and was also influenced by Millet and Courbet. In 1859 he met Monet, and two years later, Cezanne and Guillaumin. The year 187071 found him in England, avoiding the Franco-Prussian War. Unfortunately, he left behind many of his works, which were subsequently destroyed by the Prussians. Upon returning to France, he continued to work and develop his art. In 1866, Pissarro, met Manet, and in the following years, he became deeply involved in the Impressionist movement. He was one of few artists to participate in all eight of their revolutionary exhibitions, and he saw the group’s fight against academic art as a moral as well as an aesthetic battle. His relationships with some of the other Impressionists and Post-Impressionists were very close and long-lasting. He worked side-by-side with Cezanne and was responsible for Gaugin’s inclusion in the fifth Impressionist exhibition. Pissarro, Degas and Cassatt exchanged technical advice about printmaking. From 1885 to 1890, Pissarro followed Seurat and Signac in experimenting with pointillism, but feeling that its scientific approach hampered his spontaneity, he later returned to Impressionism.

For his subjects, Pissarro drew from the towns and landscapes around him in a straight- forward manner. His debt to Corot was obvious in his unsentimental devotion to nature. His goal was to portray nature and the simple working class people in a sensitive way. He believed the reality of nature lay in its close intimacy with man and many of his finest works depict, with great integrity, the humble workers going about their daily lives.

Arbres au bord d’une Rivière, 16” x 12”

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Maisons au Bord de l’Eau, 21” x 26”

Around 1914, Paulemile dedicated himself to the life of a painter. He continually enjoyed painting beautiful scenes along the Lieure River, where he was captivated by the light effects that the Impressionists had used. He translated what he saw directly onto the canvas with what could be described as a form of visual shorthand. In the tranquility of the countryside, Paulemile created numerous poetic studies that captured the charms of simple villages, rural farms, the changing seasons, old bridges, and picturesque roadways. He also traveled extensively throughout France, thriving on finding new sites to study, new atmospheric conditions, and subtle nuances of light that could often intensify his colors.eturned to Impressionism. For his subjects, Pissarro drew from the towns and landscapes around him in a straight- forward manner. His debt to Corot was obvious in his unsentimental devotion to nature. His goal was to portray nature and the simple working class people in a sensitive way. He believed the reality of nature lay in its close intimacy with man and many of his finest works depict, with great integrity, the humble workers going about their daily lives.

Color Boundaries 64, 38” x 54”

PAULEMILE PISSARRO

Stroke of Genuis

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Detail of Pêcheur sur un Lac, 25 “ x 21”

Detail of Chateau Gaillard, les Andelys, 18” x 24”

LUDOVIC-RODO PISSARRO

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Stroke of Genuis

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Maisons au Bord de l’Eau, 21” x 26”

Ludovic-Rodo Pissarro, born in Paris in 1878, was Camille Pissarro’s fourth son. Encouraged by his father, he began drawing from nature at an early age. The impact of Camille’s art and teaching on Rodo was considerable, and his artistic production encompassed a wide range of media, including oil painting, tempera, watercolour, gouache, wood engraving, drawing and lithography. Rodo exhibited regularly at the Salon des Indépendents over a forty-year period.

Despite his rich artistic heritage and his achievements as an artist, Rodo is perhaps best remembered for his contribution to art history. For twenty years, he researched and compiled a catalogue of his father’s paintings – a project that was finally published in two volumes in 1939 – and is still considered to be the definitive reference book on Camille’s work. Rodo told Lucien that the compilation of this catalogue was a fascinating task, revealing as it did “the work of the artist, its highs and lows, its progress, as a whole, through acquired experience”.

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Femmes au Bain,8” x 24”

Georges Henri Pissarro, better known as ‘Manzana’, was born in Louveciennes, the third of Camille Pissarro and Julie Vellay’s seven children. Like all second generation Pissarro artists, Georges initially worked under a pseudonym. In 1894 he adopted ‘Manzana’, the family name of his maternal grandmother. It was not until 1910, out of respect to his then deceased father, that he employed his own family name when signing his work.

Manzana studied with his father from a very early age and, like Lucien, spent his formative years surrounded by distinguished artists of the Impressionist movement – Monet, Cézanne, Renoir and Gauguin – who frequented the Pissarro home. At his father’s side he learnt not only to handle brush and pencil but also to observe and to love nature.

GEORGES MANZANA PISSARRO

Stroke of Genuis

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Detail of Le Pont de Saint-Cloud, 25.5” x 23.25”

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Après-Midi d’Éte à la Terrasse, 15” x 20”

Hugues Claude Pissarro, also known professionally as Isaac Pomié, is the grandson of the Impressionist painter Camille Pissarro and son of the artist Paulemile Pissarro. Born in Neuilly-sur-Seine on 9 November 1935, steeped in this artistic environment, he inevitably spent his childhood and youth with brushes in his hand. Carrying on a family tradition established by Camille Pissarro, Paulemile, accompanied by his numerous artist friends, frequently took his sons on painting excursions which were to prove formative for H. Claude.

Although he is at present best known for his style of impressionism, Claude experimented with different contemporary movements before confirming his preference for impressionism in later life. Predestined by his educational background to become a professor of art for much of his professional life, his temperament was notably molded by formal training at prestigious French establishments such as the “Ecole du Musée du Louvre” and, in particular, at the “Ecole Normale Supérieure”.

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H. CLAUDE PISSARRO

Stroke of Genuis

Detail of Le Jardin du Thabor (Rennes), 15” x 20”

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Clécy Pink Snow, 5” x 3”

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LELIA PISSARRO

Stroke of Genuis

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My Garden, 11” x 11”

From infancy until the age of eleven, Lelia Pissarro was entrusted to the care of her grandparents, Paulemile Pissarro and his wife, Yvonne, in Clecy, Normandy. Paulémile nurtured her interest in drawing and painting, teaching her the fundamental Impressionist and Post-Impressionist techniques he had learned from his father and his brothers. Lélia sold her first canvas to Wally Findlay, a New York art dealer, when she was only four years of age.

Lélia returned to Paris to live with her parents, and it was then that she had her first exhibition at the Salon de la Jeune Peinture. Hugues-Claude, whose style leaned toward conceptual art, took over from Paulémile as Lelia’s teacher, and consequently she practiced drawing on a daily basis. At fifteen, Lélia participated in an exhibition at the Luxembourg Museum in Paris. A year later, she enrolled at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Tours.

Lélia married art dealer David Stern and moved to London in 1988. Since then, her work has been regularly exhibited in galleries around the world. Continuing the tradition of her great-grandfather Camille Pissarro, her grandfather Paulémile and her father Hugues-Claude, Lélia participated in a series of exhibitions entitled Pissarro – The Four Generations. These exhibitions have been mounted in London, Tel Aviv, five major museums in Japan and the Museum of Art in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

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Detail of The Great Mother, 30” x 40”

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LYORA PISSARRO

Stroke of Genuis

L’Humilité, 24” x 24”

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Manzana is my favourite , 8” x 10”

Born into a family of artists, curators, art dealers, professors and critics, Lyora Pissarro has been immersed in the art world from a very young age. She sold her first painting when she was six years old and has been a determined artist ever since. Ripe with the creative drive that has spanned generations of her family, Lyora has shown in galleries in London, New York and throughout the world, as her work has been hailed as unique and insightful.

“If I could translate my feelings about being an artist into an image, it would look much like a tree rooted in water. This to me symbolizes the magnificence of creative inspiration and the process of growth, despite unstable foundations. Collapsing time and family tradition, I aim to create a dialogue between my family’s artistic heritage, my understanding of images and contemporary modes of representation : Just as the Impressionists used light and real life in an attempt to capture real life, I am trying to do the same through the lenses and tools of the modern digital age.”

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