3. Camille Pissarro
The artist (born 10 July 1830 in St. Thomas – died 13 November 1903, Paris), to a Portuguese Jewish father and a Dominican mother is now considered to be one of the most important and influential French Impressionists. Camille Pissarro painted rural and urban French life, particularly landscapes in and around Pontoise, as well as scenes from Montmartre. His mature work displays an empathy for peasants and laborers, and sometimes evidences his radical political leanings. He was a mentor to Paul Cezanne, Edouard Manet ,Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Paul Gauguin. Pissarro exhibited at all eight of the Impressionist exhibitions. Moreover, whereas Claude Monet was the most prolific and emblematic practitioner of the Impressionist style, Pissarro was nonetheless a primary developer of Impressionist technique.