“The Honest Eye: Camille Pissarro’s Impressionism” is an ambitious and impressive move by the Denver Art Museum, an example of what a mid-sized cultural institution can achieve when it sticks to its mission and takes a few risks.

And, no doubt, it is quite a dare, even if this sweeping retrospective is centered around one of the most famous artists who ever lived.

The crunch point? Pissarro himself. Though respected to stratospheric levels and widely understood as a groundbreaker, he does not have the level of celebrity that would immediately draw enough visitors — in both attendance and ticket sales — to support a solo show so expensive to produce. His Q Score cannot compete with that of his 19th-century peers who also only need go by their last names, such as Monet, with his beloved wa

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