Sign in or join

See it hung

The Crystal Palace

Look first

  • What catches your attention?
  • Where does your eye go next?
  • What would you ask about this work?
Show me

Find the huge glass building at the left, then notice how much space Pissarro gives to the road, houses, and strolling families.

Skip to the reading

Pissarro painted this view while living near London after leaving France during the Franco-Prussian War. The Crystal Palace had been moved from Hyde Park to Sydenham. Instead of making the famous structure fill the canvas, he places it within an ordinary street scene of pedestrians and carriages.

Spot an error?

Oil on canvas · 47.2 × 73.5 cm · Art Institute of Chicago · Impressionism

Read more at the Art Institute of Chicago

Sources

Look again

What do you notice now?

Try a quick sketch

Take a minute to sketch on any paper. No upload needed.

What did you draw first? What did you leave out?

Details and source

Museum title
The Crystal Palace
Artist
Camille Pissarro (French, 1830–1903)
Date
1871
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
47.2 × 73.5 cm (19 × 29 in.); Framed: 72.4 × 98.5 × 12.1 cm (28 1/2 × 38 3/4 × 4 3/4 in.)
Credit line
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. B. E. Bensinger
Image license
CC0 1.0 · Public domain
Museum record
Art Institute of Chicago

Artist’s life 1830–1903

Impressionism c. 1860–1900

View in the Atlas

Galler’s rooms and hanging scale are imagined. The image is the museum’s original digital reproduction.

The Crystal Palace · Camille Pissarro, 1871
Fit
MuseumM
Shortcuts ?
Enter
Look closer
+ −
Zoom in / out
0
Fit the whole artwork
← → ↑ ↓
Pan the image while zoomed
← →
Previous / next artwork, outside this view
M
Enter or return to the museum
Esc
Close this view; press again to enter the museum

Tab moves between controls. Browser zoom shortcuts stay available.

The Crystal Palace, Camille Pissarro

+ − Zoom · Arrow keys pan · M Museum · Esc Close