Camille and Julie Pissarro had eight children. One child died at birth; Minette died at age nine. Here is a painting of Jeanne, their eldest surviving daughter. She had the nickname, Cocotte, which translates, my sweetie.
Jeanne lived with her parents in the Paris apartment until about five years after her father's death. Here we see her seated in a room that's kind of Bohemian. There is an oriental carpet on a wide-planked wooden floor. The couch and chair are upholstered with brightly colored fabrics. The wall is decorated with some of her father's paintings. Perhaps they are un-framed works in progress.
Cocotte sits reading a book, perhaps taking a break from her housework. She wears a light pink, ruffled apron over her black skirt and printed blouse. Signac, a painter friend reported that while visiting the Paris apartment, he felt Camille's work to be dull and monotonous. This brilliant painting belies that report. Maybe we should be more careful about the information we carry.
We can see clearly that at this time in his life, Pissarro has given up Pointillism, but his technique or method seems to be ever new. There are no dots in this painting, but the brushstrokes continue to be short.
Reading his many extant letters we see that Camille's children were his pride and joy. He often wrote asking about their health or encouraging them to be readers and independent thinkers. These days we hear of helicopter parents - who "hover" over their children even into college years and beyond. Their children never really come into their own. But Pissarro seems to have been more a patient guide to life, one author writes, rather than an overbearing restrainer.
Whether the figure in the painting is a tiny, faceless peasant walking on a path, or a farm couple in a garden, or an up close portrait of an individual, or here, his daughter reading on a couch in a room filled with light, Pissarro has introduced people into his landscapes. People and relationships matter. It seems to be an important message Pissarro leaves with us.
In his Letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul gives us good advice as to what we ought to bring to our relationships:
"Let there be no more bitter resentment or anger, no more shouting or slander, and let there be no bad feeling of any kind among you. Be kind to each other, be compassionate. Be as ready to forgive others as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you." Ephesians 4: 31,32
