SwissArtGallery · Documented identity
After a few months in Gisors, he accompanies his father on an artistic trip to Le Havre, Dieppe and Rouen. In 1905, he makes his debut at the Salon des indépendants with Bords de l’Epte à Eragny, presented alongside his brother Ludovic-Rodo Pissarro. His career is not limited to painting: in 1908, he works as a mechanic and test pilot, then as a designer of textiles and laces.
With the help of his brother Lucien, he also exhibits in London at the New English Art Club, the Baillie Gallery and the Allied Artists’ Association. His painting is described as influenced by Paul Cézanne, whom he meets several times in Paris. In the 1920s, he spends the summer painting in the French countryside with artists including Kees van Dongen, Maurice de Vlaminck, André Dunoyer de Segonzac and Raoul Dufy, before returning to Paris for the winter.
The purchase of a house in Lyons-la-Forêt in 1924 anchors his work in a new environment: the garden, the surrounding countryside and the Epte inspire his canvases. Towards the end of the 1920s, his style becomes more defined through the use of mixed tones and a palette knife; he then works on a studio boat. He also practises wood engraving and etching, and some of his prints are published by Malcolm Salaman in 1919. After discovering the Suisse normande in 1930 on Raoul Dufy’s recommendation, he settles there in 1934. His work includes portraits and landscapes: he paints, in particular, the Norman forest, the Marais poitevin, as well as Treignac and Uzerche. The motifs of the Orne inspire canvases that he sends to the Salon des indépendants over the following thirty years. In 1967, he presents a solo exhibition for the first time at the Wally Findlay Gallery in New York.
This profile brings together identity references for Paul-Émile Pissarro and paintings, drawings and works on paper documented in auction catalogues.
5 references are documented at Dobiaschofsky, Piguet, Schuler. Each record links to its source; the amounts are not a general valuation of the artist’s work.
Watercolour
Maisons dans la campagne
aquarelle
Catalogue period : 2022-09-07 — 2022-09-21
Published result : 300 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 600–800
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Watercolour and pencil on paper
Waldszene
Aquarell und Bleistift auf Papier
Catalogue period : 2019-09-16
Published result : 300 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 300–400
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Watercolour on paper
Landschaft mit Heuhaufen
Aquarell auf Papier
Catalogue period : 2015-12-11
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
Estimate : CHF 1200–1800
View the lot at the auction house ↗Coloured chalk
Herbstliche Uferlandschaft mit Spazierenden.
Farbkreide
Catalogue period : 2013-11-08
Published result : 1000 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 1000
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Oil on canvas
"Clos normand"
huile sur toile
Catalogue period : 2016-06-15
Published result : 9000 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 4000–6000
View the lot at the auction house ↗SwissArtGallery documentary note based on the cited sources. Titles, media and qualifications are provided in the profile language; the original catalogue wording remains available in each record.
Documentation updated : 2026-10-19
