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Impressionists by Antonia Cunningham published by Paragon (2006) [Hardcover]
Hardcover
Published January 1, 2006
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
August 10, 2025
Impressionists by Antonia Cunningham
The Impressionists represent a peak, never surpassed for this reader.
This is a Beautiful book and an interesting challenge.
- What can I write about a book which is…about art?
One solution is simply to express admiration and Forget about it! - In the words of the famous Donnie Brasco.
But there is a catch and here I refer to Ellen DeGeneres, whose book I “opened „recently. The comedian speaks about the similitude between reading and writing a book:
- You do not know what you will get on the next page
- It is fun and suspenseful
The Impressionists is a great book because of the photographs of the paintings, which are obviously gorgeous.
But there are also excellent explanations attached to the photos that explain, the context, and in a few words, the activity, the life and views of the painter in question.
What is intriguing is the extraordinary evolution:
- From renegades and artists with paintings at the Salon des Refusés
- To universally acclaimed geniuses
In fact, for a while I thought my preference for the Impressionists was rather peculiar, unique, but it turns out that I am just one of a majority of people who favor Impressionists over others.
I am not sure about the pointillists, if they are so well liked themselves.
As an added spice and an interesting coincidence for this reader, I am in the process of learning from The Essays of Proust about some details from the life of these painters.
There are added bonuses from a documentary which is repeated on Viasat History Channel, presented by an odd English- Polish presenter, who is a bit of a show off, but then the material is so enticing that no weird figure can diminish it.
I have also had the chance to see a fictional series based on the life of these great artists: Monet, Degas, Manet, and Renoir…
Taking inspiration from all these quarters I have based my first garden on the one that Monet created, albeit at a completely different scale. But reading that he had irises, water lilies and many other plants, I had decided to try and get all I can from the list. I am not sure there were bamboo plants on that list, which in the meantime have grown to beyond six meters in my backyard.
As I write this note, I realize that I have seen Impressionist paintings not only in documentaries, fiction movies and books, but also in real life.
The National Museum of Art doesn’t have the most famous of their paintings but it has some, including pointillists, which as I have said I favor.
I now like Cezanne, who was a bit complicated and modern for me.
In fact, liking the Impressionists and sticking with them can be a sign of an old fashioned, perhaps even retrograde art admirer these days.
For I am not so much into Picasso or Damien Hirst and modern art has some appeal to me, but I do not get exalted when I see a sheep, a calf or whatever cut in half and presented as a masterpiece, which then fetches millions of dollars in the case of Hirst.
I like Klimt, Giacometti, Brancusi, Klee, Matisse, even some Dali- but this seems as far as I can go into the Art of the 20th century, which is a mystery and a strange dish for a conservative guy with distaste for sawn animals in formaldehyde.
The Impressionists represent a peak, never surpassed for this reader.
The Impressionists represent a peak, never surpassed for this reader.
This is a Beautiful book and an interesting challenge.
- What can I write about a book which is…about art?
One solution is simply to express admiration and Forget about it! - In the words of the famous Donnie Brasco.
But there is a catch and here I refer to Ellen DeGeneres, whose book I “opened „recently. The comedian speaks about the similitude between reading and writing a book:
- You do not know what you will get on the next page
- It is fun and suspenseful
The Impressionists is a great book because of the photographs of the paintings, which are obviously gorgeous.
But there are also excellent explanations attached to the photos that explain, the context, and in a few words, the activity, the life and views of the painter in question.
What is intriguing is the extraordinary evolution:
- From renegades and artists with paintings at the Salon des Refusés
- To universally acclaimed geniuses
In fact, for a while I thought my preference for the Impressionists was rather peculiar, unique, but it turns out that I am just one of a majority of people who favor Impressionists over others.
I am not sure about the pointillists, if they are so well liked themselves.
As an added spice and an interesting coincidence for this reader, I am in the process of learning from The Essays of Proust about some details from the life of these painters.
There are added bonuses from a documentary which is repeated on Viasat History Channel, presented by an odd English- Polish presenter, who is a bit of a show off, but then the material is so enticing that no weird figure can diminish it.
I have also had the chance to see a fictional series based on the life of these great artists: Monet, Degas, Manet, and Renoir…
Taking inspiration from all these quarters I have based my first garden on the one that Monet created, albeit at a completely different scale. But reading that he had irises, water lilies and many other plants, I had decided to try and get all I can from the list. I am not sure there were bamboo plants on that list, which in the meantime have grown to beyond six meters in my backyard.
As I write this note, I realize that I have seen Impressionist paintings not only in documentaries, fiction movies and books, but also in real life.
The National Museum of Art doesn’t have the most famous of their paintings but it has some, including pointillists, which as I have said I favor.
I now like Cezanne, who was a bit complicated and modern for me.
In fact, liking the Impressionists and sticking with them can be a sign of an old fashioned, perhaps even retrograde art admirer these days.
For I am not so much into Picasso or Damien Hirst and modern art has some appeal to me, but I do not get exalted when I see a sheep, a calf or whatever cut in half and presented as a masterpiece, which then fetches millions of dollars in the case of Hirst.
I like Klimt, Giacometti, Brancusi, Klee, Matisse, even some Dali- but this seems as far as I can go into the Art of the 20th century, which is a mystery and a strange dish for a conservative guy with distaste for sawn animals in formaldehyde.
The Impressionists represent a peak, never surpassed for this reader.
Displaying 1 of 1 review