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Pissarro in Chiswick French Impressionist’s Paintings of Bedford Park feature in National Gallery Exhibition
Camille Pissarro (1830-1903), often described as the father of French impressionists, worked closely with such greats as Monet, Renoir and Cezanne. Unique amongst his French peers for his passion for cricket, he recreated a wonderful scene of a cricket match taking place in the centre of Kew Green. One of his three sons, Lucien, an accomplished artist in his own right, settled at 62 Bath Road with his wife Esther and it was on Camille’s visits to this son that he created a number of paintings of his surroundings which include views from the Bath Road house.
His fascination for West London extended to Kew and its gardens. He wrote to friends saying “Kew Gardens is a dream. What trees, what lawns, what attractive and subtle undulations of the land!” He portrayed these in no less than eight paintings (one pictured left), along with scenes of a bank holiday. June 2 , 2003 Sign
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In
commemoration of the centenary of his death, The National Gallery
is holding a exhibition entitled Pissarro In London from 14th May
to 3rd August. Amongst the French Impressionist’s paintings
on show are ‘The Train at Bedford Park’ (picture right
) and ‘Bath Road’ (both 1897). 
It
was on his final visit in 1897 that he painted the, then newly constructed,
footbridge which went over the level crossing at Bath Road as well
as the Train at Bedford Park. This visit also coincided with Queen
Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee when he skillfully captured sun-drenched
scenes of the celebrations held at Bedford Park. This is sadly not
part of the exhibition as it is held in a private American collection.