Camille Pissarro

Corot taught him. Monet and Cézanne, both a decade younger, were met as students. Renoir, Manet and Degas (an especially close friend) were among other Impressionist-group members; Pissarro acted as its unofficial secretary. He was a revered mentor, central to Cézanne’s and Gauguin’s development; van Gogh sought his advice, as later did his son’s friends Matisse (who compared him to Moses) and Picabia; while Cassatt declared he could teach stones to draw. He planned a monthly print journal with Degas and Cassatt, and was temporarily seduced by Signac and Seurat’s ideas. Mirbeau corresponded with and wrote about him.