Hughes Claude Pissarro

Les toits rouges by H. Claude Pissarro

20th Century

Hugues Claude Pissarro, also known professionally as H. Claude Pissarro, is the grandson of the Impressionist painter Camille Pissarro and son of Paulémile Pissarro. Born in Neuilly-sur-Seine and enveloped in an artistic environment, he inevitably spent his childhood and youth with brushes in hand. Carrying on the family tradition established by Camille Pissarro, H. Claude’s father frequently took his son on painting excursions, often accompanied by his numerous artistic friends which proved formative for him.

Initially taught by his father, H. Claude first exhibited his work at the age of fourteen. He subsequently studied art in Paris at prestigious establishments, in particular the École Normale Supérieure, a unique French institution dedicated to the pursuit of achievement and excellence to which only the academic elite have access. He also studied art restoration under Henri Linard, head of the laboratory at the Musée du Louvre. It was inevitable that this educational background would lead him to become a professor of art for much of his professional life and in 1963 he accepted an official invitation to teach art in Monaco.

Throughout his teaching career he remained a prolific artist, exhibiting on several occasions in Paris and London. As with many of his family predecessors, the scope of his work and talent is wide-ranging: from engraver, lithographer, publisher and landscape painter to portraitist. He was even commissioned in 1959 to paint a portrait of President Eisenhower.

H. Claude’s work has evolved through a variety of different styles and techniques, including abstract, avant-garde, minimalist and conceptual art. However, he is now perhaps best known for his Post-Impressionist–style works, which have been exhibited throughout the world since 1985.

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(Biography provided by Stern Pissarro Gallery)