Antilian Landscape, St. Thomas

Camille Pissarro completed this Caribbean landscape in 1856, before his move to Paris and long before Impressionism existed. The scene shows the island of St. Thomas in the Danish West Indies, where Pissarro was born and raised. Two figures converse on a path while palm trees and rolling hills stretch toward distant mountains.

Pissarro was 26 and had returned to St. Thomas after studying in France. His teacher at the Savary Academy had encouraged him to draw from nature, advice he followed on the island. These early Caribbean works use earth tones and careful observation that would later evolve into his Impressionist style.

The painting measures 32.7 by 45.7 centimeters and remains in a private collection. Pissarro left St. Thomas for good in 1855 to study art in Paris, where he would become a founding member of the Impressionist group and mentor to younger artists like Cezanne and Gauguin.