Born in the West Indies, Camille Pissaro began painting as a vocation at age 21. He married and was the father of seven children. Pissaro moved to Paris in 1855, where he became a prolific painter of outdoor scenes. Nine years older than his contemporary Paul Cezanne, Pissaro influenced him and other painters of his time and was instrumental in a series of independent exhibitions called the Societe Anonyme des Artistes Pientres. The first was held in 1874. His use of color to produce light in his paintings and his brushwork incorporating short strokes defined the painting technique known as Impressionisim.
Paul Cezanne was born in France. His family were bankers and Cezanne, unlike many of his contemporaries, had the financial security to devote his time to his art comfortably. He came to Paris in 1861 where he met Camille Pissaro. He exhibited in the Societe Anonyme des Artistes Pientres along with the group of contemporaries, including Pissaro, who were painting using the new Impressionist technique.
In 1872, Pissaro and Cezanne spent two years painting together in Pontoise, France. Camillie Pissaro, the patriarch of the new Impressionism, greatly influenced Paul Cezanne during this turning point in Cezanne's development. The dark religious themes of Cezanne's early work disappeared and his color palate became lighter. His work with Pissaro resulted in more light being brought into his paintings. The work at Pontoise is significant because these are the paintings that Cezanne exhibited in Paris at the Societe Anonyme des Artistes Pientres. This groundbreaking exhibition was the real birth of Impressionism. Pissaro and Cezanne were both rejected by the conventional artistic venues of Paris in 1874 and this show was made up of all the rejected artists.
Pissaro's work contained human figures during their time painting together in Pontoise. Cezanne began to paint the inhuman forms of still life for which he was later renowned. Their styles are very similar but subtle differences are evident. Pissaro's brushwork was delicate, fine and quiet. Paul Cezanne was an intense painter using more uncomplicated brushwork