Designed to accompany a major exhibit in London and Chicago and illustrated with 170 color plates and 120 black-and-white reproductions, a study of the artist's later career investigates the themes, techniques, and imagery of Degas's last decades. UP.
The triumph of the forward-looking Impressionists over the deadwood of the French Academy is a familiar story to art lovers. Now this challenging book adds a new dimension to that period, showing that at the same time the Naturalists were shaping a different view of painting. Weisberg reveals that the Naturalists went beyond Impressionism in both technique and subject matter. 307 illustrations, 86 in full color.
"This magnificent new book . . . has assembled a definitive collection of impressionistic works from the Bucks Country region of eastern Pennsylvania. . . . Excellent!"—Bloomsbury Review
This study analyzes the impact of color-making technologies on the visual culture of nineteenth-century France, from the early commercialization of synthetic dyes to the Lumière brothers’ perfection of the autochrome color photography process. Focusing on Impressionist art, Laura Anne Kalba examines the importance of dyes produced in the second half of the nineteenth century to the vision of artists such as Edgar Degas, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Claude Monet. The proliferation of vibrant new colors in France during this time challenged popular understandings of realism, abstraction, and fantasy in the realms of fine art and popular culture. More than simply adding a touch of spectacle to everyday life, Kalba shows, these bright, varied colors came to define the development of a consumer culture increasingly based on the sensual appeal of color. Impressionism—emerging at a time when inexpensively produced color functioned as one of the principal means by and through which people understood modes of visual perception and signification—mirrored and mediated this change, shaping the ways in which people made sense of both modern life and modern art. Demonstrating the central importance of color history and technologies to the study of visuality, Color in the Age of Impressionism adds a dynamic new layer to our understanding of visual and material culture.
In this volume, examples of Post-Impressionism from one of the world's premier art museums provide an overview of innovations ushered in by the popular movement. Representing a pivotal moment in the history of European art, the Post-Impressionists created some of the most recognizable and stylistically inventive paintings of the modern era. Published to accompany a major exhibition, this book presents over one hundred celebrated paintings from the unparalleled collection of Paris's Musee d'Orsay. Focusing on the decades around 1900, this publication presents late Impressionist landmarks by Monet and Renoir; early modern masterpieces by Cezanne, Gauguin, Toulouse-Lautrec, and Van Gogh; and avant-garde canvases by the Nabis painters Denis, Bonnard, and Vuillard. The volume also provides a unique look at the Musee d'Orsay's outstanding collection of Pointillism, including works by artists such as Seurat and Signac. Together these works offer a fresh assessment of seismic transitions in the European art world at the turn of the twentieth century that ushered in the birth of modern painting and produced lasting treasures of its own.
This richly illustrated volume explores diverse aspects of life in nineteenth-century Paris, from the dim alleys of 'Old Paris' to the grand boulevards of the Second Empire. Paris earned the enduring nickname 'la ville lumiere' during the second half of the nineteenth century, when gas lamps gradually began to light up the city's dark medieval streets. Authors, composers, and especially visual artists thrived in this dazzling milieu. Approximately one hundred prints, drawings, photographs, and paintings offer an unforgettable tour of the cultural capital of the nineteenth century - the city in which Impressionism was born. Readers are transported to Paris via views of the city, from panoramas to picturesque details, by Pierre Bonnard, Charles Marville, Jean-Francois Raffaelli, and Edouard Vuillard. Works by Honore Daumier and Edouard Manet convey key historical events and underscore the newfound power of the press. Prints and drawings by Mary Cassatt, Paul Gauguin, and Camille Pissarro provide an expanded view of the Impressionist movement beyond the medium of painting, while Edgar Degas, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and James Tissot contribute colourful images of the theatre, the circus, and other forms of popular entertainment. The book concludes with a selection of vibrant turn-of-the-century posters by Jules Cheret, Alphonse Mucha, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and many more.
Defining an artistic era or movement is often a difficult task, as one tries to group individualistic expressions and artwork under one broad brush. Such is the case with impressionism, which culls together the art of a multitude of painters in the mid-19th century, including Monet, Cézanne, Renoir, Degas, and van Gogh. Basically, impressionism involved the shedding of traditional painting methods. The subjects of art were taken from everyday life, as opposed to the pages of mythology and history. In addition, each artist painted to express feelings of the moment instead of hewing to time-honoured standards. This description of impressionism, obviously, is quite broad and can apply to a wide array of styles. Nonetheless, it remains a very important school in the annals of art. Any current or budding art aficionado should become familiar with the impressionist movement and its impact on the art world. This book presents a sweeping study of this artistic period, from its origins to its manifestations in the works of some of art history's most revered painters. Following this overview is a substantial and selective bibliography, featuring access through author, title, and subject indexes.
Lavishly illustrated, meticulously researched, and gracefully written, this definitive study of California's distinctive style of impressionism surveys the movement's sources abroad, its most influential artists, and the critical responses to the style. 248 illustrations, 201 in color.