Armand Guillaumin

Armand Guillaumin painted landscapes in bold, intense colour. Purple and orange hills, bright green rivers and fiery autumn trees fill his canvases. He was one of the original Impressionists, and his colour became so strong that he is seen as a forerunner of Fauvism.

He was born in Paris and worked for years at a railway company while painting. At the Académie Suisse he met Paul Cézanne and Camille Pissarro, who became lifelong friends. He showed in six of the eight Impressionist exhibitions and later befriended Van Gogh. In 1891 he won a lottery prize that let him paint full time, and he spent much of his later life painting the Creuse valley around Crozant. The Musée d’Orsay holds many of his works.

Landscape of Autumn and Effect of the Sun show his colour. Look for the vivid purples in the shadows.