Impressionists

by Antonia Cunningham

Looks in detail at all aspects of the work of the movement, with detailed commentary on 120 of their works and additional imagery to highlight comparisons and contrasts in their style.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Art History, Reference, History

256 pages, hardcover

Published February 1, 2002

Reviews

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a concise intro to the impressionists. Paris 1874 was the first exhibition of this art style that drew much criticism by the establishment for its 'unfinished' look. 120 paintings, grouped by each artist, provide a beautiful display for why this style is so appealing to everyone today. A short introduction (10 pgs) explains the driving forces of Impressionism.

I like how the paintings chosen are in chronological order (per that artist), so you can see their pre-impressionist paintings that show traits of unique boldness. Then their obvious impressionist phase. And finally moving onward. A few truly stayed with impressionism. Others oscillated. Renoir started more classical. Then full impressionist. Then severely classical. And finally back to impressionist traits.

I have an issue, however, with the 8" width of this book.
Text is kept to only one of the two pages you are looking at (usually the left page). If the painting is strongly landscape-oriented (wider than it is tall), or even the square paintings, the painting is allowed to cross ~25% into the page with text. 71 of the 120 paintings cross page like this. This breaks up the painting to the viewer. This includes crossing the page for Monet's "Impression Sunrise", for example - sadly.

However, if the painting had been kept only to the single page, then massive amounts of empty white would be under all these landscape/square-oriented paintings. This is why most art books are DEEP (maybe 10" x 12"), vs this 8" x 11.5"

I did find the text extremely readable and well spaced. A concise 3-4 paragraphs per painting.

4.5*

1. Eugene Boudin - 1 painting (1874 first exhibition of Impressionists)
2. Edouard Manet - 15 paintings
3. Frederic Bazille - 2 paintings
4. Claude Monet - 16 paintings (1874 first exhibition of Impressionists)
5. Alfred Sisley - 6 paintings (1874 first exhibition of Impressionists)
6. Camille Pissarro - 14 paintings (1874 first exhibition of Impressionists)
7. Pierre-Auguste Renoir - 15 paintings (1874 first exhibition of Impressionists)
8. Armand Guillaumin - 2 paintings (1874 first exhibition of Impressionists)
9. Edgar Degas - 17 paintings (1874 first exhibition of Impressionists)
10. Gustave Caillebotte - 3 paintings
11. Berthe Morisot - 6 paintings (1874 first exhibition of Impressionists)
12. Mary Cassatt - 5 paintings
13. Paul Cezanne - 16 paintings (1874 first exhibition of Impressionists)
14. Georges Seurat - 2 paintings

Note: from Sept 8 2024 through Jan 19 2025, "Paris 1874: The Impressionist Moment" is at the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC. $Free
https://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2024/...
I went to see this Fri Dec 13. Thankfully I arrived at 10 am when the gallery opened. A long line quickly formed inside, almost half the length of the museum!
There are an additional 14 galleries that adjoin this special exhibition area that all contain 19th century French paintings dominated by the Impressionists.

[Sean · Rating 5 out of 5]

I realize how much I like impressionist painters when I get a book purely on this topic.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is almost impossible today to realize how poorly the work of these artists was regarded at the time that they were painting. It would not then have made sense to title a study of their work Essential Impressionists; these paintings and those who painted them were, for the most part, not thought of as remotely "essential."

There are one hundred eighteen paintings and two sculptures reproduced here. Fifteen artists are represented. The following is a list of the artists in the order in which they appear in this book and the number of works shown by each artist:

Eugene Boudin (1)
Edouard Manet (15)
Frédéric Bazille (2)
Claude Monet (16)
Alfred Sisley (6)
Camille Pissarro (14)
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (14)
Richard Guino (1)
Armand Guillaumin (2)
Edgar Degas (17)
Gustave Caillebotte (3)
Berthe Morisot (6)
Mary Cassatt (5)
Paul Cézanne (16)
Georges Seurat (2)

Each painting is given at least one full page; many are extended on to a second page. All are in color. The ones that are printed across two pages seem to me to have the two sections of the paintings almost perfectly matched, which is not always the case in art books. I am never certain how close such reproductions come to the originals; some of these look substantially different in other books or online, but without having the original works in front of me, I can not judge their accuracy.

One of the two sculptural works is Dancer by Degas, whose sculptures are well known. The other might be regarded as outside of the scope of this book; it is Head of a Woman, a bust of Pierre-Auguste Renoir's wife, Aline Renoir, done by the Catalan sculptor Richard Guino.

As to the individual works of art - well, everyone's opinion would be different. There is only one picture that I truly dislike; that is Manet's The Spanish Ballet. There are too many that I like to single out favorites.

Each artwork is accompanied by a brief essay about that work and the artist. I think that these are quite good.

The "Introduction" by Karen Hurrell is interesting, even when I disagree with it. Surely Manet's The Lunch on the Grass does not show "two businessmen... entertaining two nude women of questionable virtue." (Only one of the women is nude and I see nothing to indicate that the women were "of questionable virtue" - or that the men were businessmen.) I wish that she had limited the paintings that she discussed to those shown in the book; Monet's Boulevard des Capucines, for example, may indeed be a "spectacular view," but the reader would simply need to trust Hurrell on that. (Or, of course, find it on some other source; it really is worth seeking out.)

Obviously a reader's opinion of this book will depend largely on that person's opinion of the artworks included. I do like the artwork and I enjoyed the book.

[John Teehan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first bought this for the large, well-produced color reproductions of a broad sampling of the Impressionist movement (easily my favorite art period). The bonus is in the well-written, informative, and clear short essays by each piece featuring background, significance, some trivia, and commentary. It's a highly recommended book for newer students of art history, and an invaluable book to artists with an interest in Impressionist style and history.

Well put together. Well written. I bought mine used--it appears to be out of print--but I nonetheless recommend it as a most suitable used bookstore acquisition. (In addition to be well written and well put together, the publisher, Parragon, seems to have made it a fairly sturdy book as well. This won't fall apart on you under its own weight, and is not so large as to be an unwieldy read like so many large format art books.

Hence the five stars.

[Sinar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can only say that the reason why I rated 5-stars here is because Antonia covers quite many painting impressionists and all pages are colored.

[Brigitte Gorton]

So many books I read reference fine art. I always found myself realizing that I just don’t “get it” when it comes to art in general. So, in a very shallow attempt at understanding, I picked this book up at the library just to learn something, anything, about art. I didn’t have the intention of reading about Impressionism per se but it seemed a “readable” book to start with. Having nothing to compare it to, I didn’t rate it. But I did like the layout and structure of the book. It has large pictures of the art itself and a few paragraphs about each one. I learned a little about Impressionism and how/why it came about. I learned a little history of each of the artists and the art community that was interconnected at the time. While I can’t say I really “get it” any more than I had done before I read this, knowledge is knowledge right? And this was an easy enough foray into learning a few small bits and pieces.

[Amy T · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a handy guidebook to the Impressionists and their work, however, it isn’t the ideal reference to the paintings themselves. Because it’s so small in size (approximately 5x7 inches) the images are tiny and details do not show up well. Some of the works are also cropped due to the small format. With that said, this book is packed with interesting information and is well worth the read. It’s portability, despite its shortcomings with image reproduction, is convenient for taking on site as well as for quick reference.

[Tere Romances Vinaixa · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,25 ★

Such a comfort read. I knew a lot of these authors since I love impressionism, but I also discovered some new favourite, some new favourite paintings as well. I also liked that they talked about female painters, something that I sadly don't hear enough.

[Charlie Bowers · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was always a fan of Impressionist painters. I used to visit the Modern Museum of Art in NYC years ago when on business trips to the city. I always loved seeing their impressionist collection and this book was a excellent reminder of those good times.

[Nine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sehr ausgewogen von der Auswahl her, kein Basiswissen notwendig, deshalb manchmal leider nicht so neue Informationen für mich dabei.

[William Turner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Indeed

[Tony · Rating 4 out of 5]

not great but good not enough on the later artists for me but still a good place to start

[Analee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable picture book about Impressionists.

[Vasili · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hermoso libro con las obras destacadas de muchos artistas impresionistas. Aunque se encuentran casi todas en Internet. Leerlo es muy placentero