Camille Pissarro: A Painter Who Changed The Way We See

I think we often focus way too much on the way technology changes and not enough on how we are changing. Technology changes us, no question. It alters our habits (check out a crackberry addict) and changes the dynamic in the workplace (the virtual office for instance.) What does it mean? Is this a good thing or bad thing? In that light, I was thinking recently about the differences between an “artist” and a “artisan” or practitioner. An artisan is good at what he or she does. They’re gifted and often brilliant. But an “artist” changes the conversation. They force us to see or do something in a different way, forever altering our view of the world.

Kathleen and I were in Milwaukee recently at the Milwaukee Art Museum. (Great art museum by the way). They were doing a show based on the work of impressionist painter Camille Pissarro. (By the way, the term “impressionist” was actually coined by someone who was trying to dismiss the movement. It was a critical term that the painters eventually took ownership of and defined the movement. Perhaps there’s a word here about criticism, and taking ownership of your critics barbs and channeling them into a positive direction. But that’s another post).

As we studied his paintings, I realized that (as is the complaint with much of modern art), anyone could have painted what Pissarro painted. But the critical difference is not what he painted, as much as when he painted it. Pissarro, along with other impressionist painters was a pioneer. When others were creating conventional works, these painters shook things up and changed the conversation. They forced their viewers to look at the world in a dramatically different way, and as a result, it changed the course of art.

Pissarro himself said, “It is a grave error to believe that all mediums of art are not closely tied to their time.” That’s a powerful statement.

What does that say about you? How can your work cause the world to look, act, or think differently? How can you change the conversation in the culture? Pissarro didn’t start out rich, famous, or influential, but he and a group of other outsiders challenged the conventional view of the world, and we’re better off for it.

As Apple says, “Think Different.” Stop doing conventional work. Get past the daily grind, deadlines, and budgets, and start asking bigger questions. Stop giving your audiences what you think they want, and give them what they need.