Camille Pissarro (1830-1903)
Five autograph letters signed ('C. Pissarro', one with signature excised) to his son Rodolphe, Éragny and Paris, 14 November 1898 and 24 May - 30 June 1900
In French. Together ten pages, octavo; with illustrated letters by Rodolphe to his father and to his brother Félix ('Titi'), and an illustrated letter by Félix to his mother. Provenance: Sotheby's, 28 May 1986, lot 285.

'Have a look whether Manet's old studio ... is free'. In November 1898, Pissarro is 'clearing my studio, my packing cases are full ... moving my paintings will be more or less secure ... When you go along rue d'Amsterdam have a look at no. 77 whether Manet's old studio which faces due south in the courtyard is free ... it would fit me like a glove'. On 24 May he gives Rodolphe advise on medicine for colic, asking whether there are not homeopathic doctors on Jersey and complains of tensions within the family cause by the children ('constant exaggeration and lack of respect'), especially towards their mother; three days later he advises caution on account of disturbances on Jersey ('decidedly people are as fierce there as they are here'). On 15 June he suggests Rodolphe try sea-bathing in the hot weather, though with caution, 'especially from the point of view of holes and rising tides', and discusses money-matters in relation to Rodolphe's 'voluntary exile' – his son's nit-picking demand for explanations has caused tensions at home. In a postscript he adds that a certain Hessèle, a print-seller in rue Laffitte, would like Rodolphe to make some woodblocks, 'dans le genre du Moulin de Knock'. In the last letter, Pissarro announces his departure from Paris for Éragny, and then to the seaside: 'we shall first go to Dieppe'.

Rodolphe Pissarro (1878-1952) was the artist's fourth son, and like his older brothers pursued a career as an artist.