Orovida Pissarro 1893-1968
Orovida (née Pissarro), the first woman in this famous dynasty to become a painter, asserted her artistic independence from her father, Lucien, and grandfather, Camille, by shedding her surname and rejecting Impressionism. She developed a personal style that combined elements of Japanese, Chinese, Persian, Indian and African art, partly encouraged by WIAC members Diana White and Dora Clarke. Her paintings of the 1920s–30s were executed in gouache (she called it 'bodycolour') and egg tempera, applied in thin, delicate washes to silk, linen, paper or gold leaf, often embellished with brocade borders. A prominent figure within the WIAC, she served on the executive and hanging committees almost continuously from 1928-50, and on the selection committee in 1946.
This work was exhibited three times at the WIAC in 1927, 1928 and 1940.