Boquet of Violets, Camille Pissarro

I am not a huge fan of Pissarro's flower paintings but I love this one.  The detail of the wall paper and the rug on the table remind me of another favorite painter from this era, Édouard Vuillard.  The whole painting pops for me.
Pissarro participated in the first independent exhibition of the Impressionists in 1874 and remained the most loyal member of the group, contributing to all the subsequent exhibitions. Although Pissarro specialized in landscapes, he also painted genre scenes, portraits, and still lifes. His wife was extremely fond of  flowers and always grew masses of flowers in their garden. She often gathered bouquets for her husband’s still lives, which regularly featured various types of flowers (most commonly peonies) of various shades, but she especially like pink.  The other thing I didn't know about Pissarro is that he was born to French-Jewish parents in St. Thomas.  He came to France as a child to study, and his relationship with his wife was somewhat of a scandal in his family, as she was both a servant in their house and a Christian.  He rebelled in many realms, it seems.