# Camille Pissarro artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/camille-pissarro/
Profile generated: 2026-04-29T19:46:10.969Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1830-07-10
- Death date: 1903-11-12
- Nationality: Danish, French
- Movements: Impressionism, Neo-Impressionism, Post-Impressionism
- Common media: oil painting, watercolor, pastel, lithography, gouache, drawing, etching

## About Camille Pissarro

Camille Pissarro (1830–1903) was a Danish-French painter and a foundational figure in both Impressionism and Post-Impressionism. Born on the island of Saint Thomas in the Danish West Indies, he moved to Paris in the 1850s and studied under Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot and Gustave Courbet. Pissarro is the only artist to have exhibited in all eight Impressionist group exhibitions between 1874 and 1886. He served as a mentor and collaborator to Paul Cézanne, Paul Gauguin, Georges Seurat, and Paul Signac, and briefly adopted Neo-Impressionist techniques in the mid-1880s before returning to a freer Impressionist style. His subjects ranged from rural landscapes and peasant life around Pontoise and Éragny to celebrated series of Parisian boulevards painted from high windows late in his career. He was the patriarch of a large artistic family, with several sons becoming painters in their own right.

## Common works and media

Collectors most frequently encounter Pissarro's oil-on-canvas landscapes and urban views, particularly scenes of Pontoise, Éragny, Rouen, and Paris. He also produced a substantial body of pastels, watercolors, and gouaches depicting rural laborers, market scenes, and village streets. His printmaking includes etchings and lithographs, some in editioned sets. Drawings in pencil, pen, and chalk span his entire career. Late in life, his Paris apartment yielded multiple painted views of the Boulevard Montmartre, Avenue de l'Opéra, and the Pont Neuf, which are among his most recognized compositions.

## Market and appraisal context

Camille Pissarro has one of the deepest and most liquid auction footprints of any Impressionist artist. Appraisily's auction-record index tracks 1,751 lots, of which 1,208 carry a recorded price—a body of evidence spanning from November 1991 through April 2026. Major houses dominate the top of the market: Christie's and Sotheby's anchor the high end, while Bonhams, Artcurial, Tajan, Millon & Associés, Piasa, Ader, and Swann Auction Galleries contribute substantial mid-market and works-on-paper volume. Price dispersion is extremely wide. The recorded minimum is $1 (typically low-value prints or unverified attributions) and the maximum reaches $19,682,500, reflecting top-tier oil paintings at flagship evening sales. The median sits at $7,800 and the interquartile range spans $2,000–$65,000, indicating that while blue-chip oils command millions, the majority of lots that change hands are works on paper, prints, and drawings in the low-four-to-mid-five-figure range. Liquidity remains strong: 102 lots appeared in the trailing twelve months against 114 in the prior period, a modest single-digit decline consistent with normal market cyclicality rather than contraction. Categories observed include Impressionist & Modern Art, Works on Paper, and Prints & Multiples across oil painting, watercolor, pastel, gouache, drawing, etching, and lithography.

## Auction-house-backed market evidence

Camille Pissarro has one of the deepest and most liquid auction footprints of any Impressionist artist. Appraisily's auction-record index tracks 1,751 lots, of which 1,208 carry a recorded price—a body of evidence spanning from November 1991 through April 2026. Major houses dominate the top of the market: Christie's and Sotheby's anchor the high end, while Bonhams, Artcurial, Tajan, Millon & Associés, Piasa, Ader, and Swann Auction Galleries contribute substantial mid-market and works-on-paper volume. Price dispersion is extremely wide. The recorded minimum is $1 (typically low-value prints or unverified attributions) and the maximum reaches $19,682,500, reflecting top-tier oil paintings at flagship evening sales. The median sits at $7,800 and the interquartile range spans $2,000–$65,000, indicating that while blue-chip oils command millions, the majority of lots that change hands are works on paper, prints, and drawings in the low-four-to-mid-five-figure range. Liquidity remains strong: 102 lots appeared in the trailing twelve months against 114 in the prior period, a modest single-digit decline consistent with normal market cyclicality rather than contraction. Categories observed include Impressionist & Modern Art, Works on Paper, and Prints & Multiples across oil painting, watercolor, pastel, gouache, drawing, etching, and lithography.

### Appraisal notes

An Appraisily appraisal for a Camille Pissarro work would layer the buyer's submitted materials—high-resolution photographs, measured dimensions, medium identification, signature and inscription details, condition report, and any available provenance or exhibition history—against the auction-record distribution described here. The appraiser would narrow comparable lots by medium (oil, pastel, watercolor, print, or drawing), date of execution, subject category (Paris boulevard, rural landscape, figure, market scene), and size, then reference the p25–p75 band for that segment. Catalogue raisonné status is critical: the Wildenstein–Pissarro catalogue raisonné is the primary reference for oil paintings, and the appraiser would note whether the work is listed, rejected, or unexamined. Attribution verification is especially important because several Pissarro family members (Lucien, Félix, Georges, Ludovic Rodolphe, Paul Emile) produced work that circulates on the same market. Edition details for prints (state, plate number, paper type, edition size) materially affect value. Condition factors—particularly for works on paper such as foxing, acid migration, fading, or lining for canvases—are weighed against the comparable set.

### Valuation factors

- Medium is the strongest price driver: major oil paintings routinely achieve seven-to-eight-figure results, while etchings, lithographs, and small drawings can sell below $1,000
- Subject and period: Paris boulevard series (c. 1893–1903) and Neo-Impressionist works (c. 1885–1890) are the most sought-after; rural Pontoise scenes also command strong prices
- Size and scale: larger canvases carry disproportionate value; small works on paper are priced accordingly
- Provenance and exhibition history: documentation tying a work to a named collection, exhibition, or publication in the catalogue raisonné materially increases value
- Authenticity and attribution: the Pissarro family includes multiple artist descendants whose work circulates on the market; misattribution risk is elevated for unsigned or poorly documented pieces
- Condition: works on paper are vulnerable to foxing, fading, and acid damage; canvases may have been relined, overcleaned, or compromised—each factor adjusts value
- Print edition details: state number, paper quality, edition size, and presence of the plate signature versus a hand signature differentiate value within the print segment
- Market liquidity: with over 100 lots appearing annually, Pissarro has reliable resale velocity across price tiers, which supports rather than depresses value

### Collector notes



### Market caveats

- The price distribution spans from $1 to $19,682,500—an extreme range driven by the full spectrum of mediums, sizes, and attribution confidence levels. Median and interquartile figures are more representative of typical market activity than the high maximum.
- Several recent lots from regional houses (Millon & Associés, Kunstauktionshaus Schloss Ahlden, Claydon Auctioneers, Hotspot Auctions) sold in the €120–€3,000 range and may represent prints, drawings, or works with condition or attribution questions rather than fully authenticated oil paintings.
- The Appraisily auction-record data aggregates results from multiple houses and currencies (USD, EUR, GBP). Direct price comparisons should account for currency conversion at the time of sale.
- No independent verification of individual lot attributions was performed for this addendum; the recorded prices reflect what was catalogued by each auction house at the time of sale.
- The Pissarro family includes multiple artists (Lucien, Félix, Georges, Ludovic Rodolphe, Paul Emile, and others) whose work may appear in search results for 'Camille Pissarro.' Attribution to Camille specifically should be confirmed before relying on any lot as a comparable.

### Market evidence sources

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- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-camille-pissarro-19c-antique-bather-etching-signed-232-c-97541c18ff
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-camille-pissarro-1830-charlotte-amalie-danisch-westindien-1903-paris-353-c-91844208a2
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-camille-pissarro-1830-charlotte-amalie-1903-paris-354-c-71543ada1a
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-camille-pissarro-1830-1903-pencil-on-paper-etude-pour-grandmere-rachel-1760-c-a614d86720
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-camille-pissarro-1595-c-ae1c2784c9
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-camille-pissarro-1594-c-6778072a9b
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-camille-pissarro-1593-c-2b8e8fb122
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-camille-pissarro-1830-1903-french-attributed-to-oil-on-canvas-356-c-20588550a9
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-camille-pissarro-1830-1903-grand-mere-dans-son-fauteuil-1888-11-c-8ed494fb91
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-camille-pissarro-1830-1903-marchande-de-marrons-1878-10-c-882f390a8a
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-camille-pissarro-1830-1903-le-port-9-c-f3f95622b6
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-camille-pissarro-1830-1903-la-paysanne-1891-8-c-ad99beaa68
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-camille-pissarro-1830-1903-les-deux-baigneuses-1895-7-c-c0f81bba62
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-camille-pissarro-1830-1903-pere-pascal-1889-6-c-8c1707d166
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-camille-pissarro-1830-1903-couple-de-paysans-1899-5-c-4a6aef8431
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-camille-pissarro-1830-1903-baigneuse-mettant-ses-bas-4-c-d40fff9310
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-camille-pissarro-1830-1903-paysans-portant-du-foin-1900-3-c-a66f639900

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine verified artist identity research from museum, library authority, and scholarly sources with auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. For Camille Pissarro, this page draws on authority files from the Library of Congress, VIAF, the RKD, and collection records from the Museum of Modern Art and Tate.

## Sources

- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q134741
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camille_Pissarro
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/14775224/
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n50010995
- The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/4640
- Tate: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/camille-pissarro-1776
- RKD - Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/63696