Camille Pissarro (1903) in a letter to his son Lucien, 8 Mai 1903, as quoted in Letters of the great artists – from Blake to Pollock, Richard Friedenthal, Thames and Hudson, London, 1963, p. 149 (transl. Daphne Woodward)
“

This Mr Dewhurst (Wynford Dewhurst, [who was writing a book Impressionist Painting, its Genesis and Development, published in 1904] has not understood the Impressionist movement in the very least. All he sees in it is a technical method... ...He also says that before going to London [to see the English landscape-painters as Constable and Turner], we [ Monet and Pissarro ] knew nothing whatsoever about light; but we have studies that prove the contrary. He omits the influence of Claude Lorrain, Corot, all the 18th-century painters, Chardin most of all. But what he fails to realize is that while Turner and Constable were of service to us, they confirmed our suspicion that those painters had not understood 'The Analysis of Shadows', which in the case of Turner are always a deliberate effect, a plain dark patch. As to the division of tones, Turner confirmed us its value as a method, but not as a means of accuracy or truth to nature. In any case, the 18th century was our tradition. It seems to me that Turner too, had looked at Claude Lorrain. I am even inclined to think there is a picture by Turner, 'Sunset', hung side by side with a Claude.

— Camille Pissarro on Impressionism

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "This Mr Dewhurst (Wynford Dewhurst, [who was writing a book Impressionist Painting, its Genesis and Development, published in 1904] has not understood the Impressionist movement in the very least. All he sees in it is a technical method... ...He also says that before going to London [to see the English landscape-painters as Constable and Turner], we [ Monet and Pissarro ] knew nothing whatsoever about light; but we have studies that prove the contrary. He omits the influence of Claude Lorrain, Corot, all the 18th-century painters, Chardin most of all. But what he fails to realize is that while Turner and Constable were of service to us, they confirmed our suspicion that those painters had not understood 'The Analysis of Shadows', which in the case of Turner are always a deliberate effect, a plain dark patch. As to the division of tones, Turner confirmed us its value as a method, but not as a means of accuracy or truth to nature. In any case, the 18th century was our tradition. It seems to me that Turner too, had looked at Claude Lorrain. I am even inclined to think there is a picture by Turner, 'Sunset', hung side by side with a Claude." in the context of "Camille Pissarro (1903) in a letter to his son Lucien, 8 Mai 1903, as quoted in Letters of the great artists – from Blake to Pollock, Richard Friedenthal, Thames and Hudson, London, 1963, p. 149 (transl. Daphne Woodward)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Impressionism" (Impressionism in quotes: Sorted chronologically, by date of the quote, 1900s, 1900s) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Camille Pissarro

About Camille Pissarro

Jacob Abraham Camille Pissarro (10 July 1830 – 13 November 1903) was a Danish-French Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist landscape-painter with important contributions to both Impressionism and Post-Impressionism.