Anna Sayburn checks out another illustrious former resident.
It wasn’t just Vincent Van Gogh who was hanging around Dulwich in the 1870s. The impressionist Camille Pissarro spent two years living in Westow Hill, producing some of his most atmospheric paintings.
Camille Pissarro, The Avenue, Sydenham, 1871.© National Gallery, London
It wasn’t curiosity so much as necessity that drove his journey, along with his wife-to-be (they married in Clapham during the visit) and their four children. The Franco-Prussian War prompted the move from 1870 to 1871.
As he wrote to a friend, while their mutual friend Monet stayed at the Savoy Hotel, ‘I, living in Lower Norwood, at that time a charming suburb, studied the effects of fog, snow and springtime.’
It’s a strange sensation looking at the paintings today, half-familiar, with their damp weather, hazy sunshine and mottled tones. Some (St Stephen’s Church, College Road, Dulwich College) show views that have barely changed.
Others depict familiar locations, but with scenes that no longer exist, such as the steam train merrily chuffing through East Dulwich (Lordship Lane Station), or the elegant carriage rattling along Lawrie Park Avenue (The Avenue in Sydenham), see above. The painting of the newly-arrived Crystal Palace shows a familiar-looking row of redbrick houses facing an ethereal, utterly-incongrous palace.
Camille Pissarro, Foxhill, Upper Norwood 1870. © National Gallery, London
If you want to see for yourself, the National Gallery has two of the paintings from the period, Fox Hill, Upper Norwood, and The Avenue, Sydenham. The Courtauld Gallery has a third, Lordship Lane Station. The painting of Crystal Palace is further afield, in the Art Institute of Chicago. I’ve been unable to track down the others – does anyone know where they are?
Thanks to Nicola Jeffs in the press office at the National Gallery for help and images.
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