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Impressionism: 50 Paintings You Should Know
No artistic education is complete without a healthy dose of the Impressionists. Here fifty of the most important works from the early nineteenth through the early twentieth centuries are gorgeously reproduced, including the best of Monet, Degas, van Gogh, Renoir, Cézanne, Cassatt, Manet, Seurat, and Pisarro. Each piece is given a brief overview establishing its place in the Impressionist pantheon as well as in its artist's oeuvre. An introductory text explains the Impressionistic style, tracing the movement's development, while an appendix offers biographies of the artists. The result is a veritable seminar on Impressionism, creating a fun and practical art history lesson that everyone can enjoy.
144 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
May 3, 2019
Great book on the best examples of the impressionists and what made the movement tick. My full review is here: http://patricksherriff.com/2019/05/04...
July 24, 2024
V penzionu bylo několik balícím papírem obalených knížek, takže jsem samozřejmě musela zjistit co je to zač. Mezi Halinou a učebnicemi jógy se válelo tohle, tak jsem si dala výzvu. Přečteno pod silným časovým nátlakem, doufala jsem že to do chvilky přelousknu ale ta ájina a moje pozornost mi místy dávaly celkem zabrat. Ty části o životech umělců mě bavily nejvíc, deskripce obrazů byly taky fajn, ale to umělecké drama bylo chytlavější. Overall moc fajn, rozhodně jsem o něco chytřejší, tak teď jenom doufat že se to do září nevypaří.
October 13, 2021
Impressionism is my favorite genre so this was a must read for me. The author gives the perspective of each painting at the time it was unveiled which doesn’t always match the perspective of today. She also provides tidbits of the artists’ lives which were informative. This one is a keeper.
October 26, 2021
I’m not a connoisseur by any means, but this was one of the most enjoyable books on art that I’ve read. It gives descriptions of each painting, though not in a heavy-handed or overly intellectual way. Each page opens to the painting on the right and the year it was created; on the left the text cites some points of interest which vary between the artwork itself, its subjects, or personal stories about the artists and their families. It starts with Manet’s “Le Dejeuner sur l’herbe” in 1863 and progresses through Corinth’s “After the Bath” in 1906. There are then further brief notes on the artists in the back, which among other things, allowed seeing a photo of Berthe Morisot and then comparing it to her image in Manet’s “The Balcony”.
There is a clear reference in Monet’s “Impressionism, Sunrise” (1872) to works of J.M.W. Turner from decades before, and perhaps “The Fighting Téméraire tugged to her last Berth to be broken” (1839) or one of his other works should have been #1 here to be a bit provocative, but no matter. The selection of paintings is outstanding, many of which are probably instantly recognizable and others of which are less so, but I won’t focus on my favorites here, and instead pass along the interest anecdotes and side commentary which elevated the book for me.
One learns of the artists’ struggles: Morisot fighting the belief that “real” art was a profession for men only, and Cassatt’s father going so far as to say he’d rather have her dead than attempt it. Liebermann fighting anti-German sentiment, as the French (including their artists) still had the sting of the Franco-Prussian war in their minds. Monet fleeing creditors in the days before “making it”, abandoning his pregnant wife Camille, and slashing nearly 200 paintings at one point. Sisley and Pissarro’s poverty, and Cezanne’s paintings being cut up into smaller pieces of artwork to increase sales.
Renoir’s interest in breasts, and quipping “A breast is round and warm. If God had not created the breasts of woman, I would probably never have become a painter!” This alongside “A Young Girl with Daisies” (1889), where I note, uh, that’s not all she has. Ahem. Sorry. His painting of his lovers, for example, Marguerite in “Nude in the Sunlight” (1876), and the 17-year-old Suzanne Valadon who slept with and modeled for several painters, Renoir included, appearing in “Dance in the City” (1883). That’s a popular painting which reflects the joy of togetherness (in a complimentary way to “Dance in the Country” from 1882); it’s ironic to me that Valadon was pregnant at the time and probably didn’t know who the father was.
These guys were far from perfect. Toulouse-Latrec was addicted to alcohol and led a dissolute lifestyle, spent days at a time in expensive brothels, and died at 37 of a protracted case of syphilis. There is certainly nothing attractive about the used-up, wasted, exhausted and dejected look of the women in “The Sofa” (1894-96), but what a perfect accompaniment to that information. Gaugin left his career as a stockbroker and abandoned his family to paint following the 1882 stock exchange crash. Van Gogh wanted to set up a salon for artists in the south of France, yet was extraordinarily awkward and lonely, and said “I do not have to see so many painters who, as human beings, I despise.” It’s sad that towards the end he wanted to reconcile with Gaugin, but the two would never see each other again following their famous argument, and that his delusions would cause his neighbors to force him to be re-institutionalized multiple times.
The artist at the vanguard of the movement, Manet, comes across as an interesting character, in his challenging, confrontational, unapologetic style, in his reading and friendship with the gritty realist Zola (resulting in “Nana”, 1877), and in his fondness for going to the horse races with Degas.
Monet does as well. I wasn’t aware that he had gotten the director of the Saint-Lazare train station to delay trains, close platforms, and deliberately have the locomotives fill the air with as much smoke as he wanted to get the right effect for his 1877 painting. He also damned up a branch of the Seine over the concerns of his neighbors to create the pond at Giverny featured in “Bridge over a Pool of Water Lilies” (1899) and so many other of his works. Whereas Degas deliberately tried not to recreate what he saw in front of him (“a painting is, first and foremost, the product of an artistic fantasy”), Monet carried dozens of canvases with him and literally switched between them while painting as light and shadows changed in the attempt to come as close as possible to recreating the impressions of a scene over a spectrum of conditions. In the case of the Houses of Parliament, he took this to an extreme, surrounding himself with 80 (80!) canvases and frantically switching between them. It was interesting to see Monet’s focus on the depiction of light evolve over the years.
My only teeny tiny complaint was that the paintings that were occasionally inset (not the main 50), as well as those included in the introduction, were too small. This made contrasting, for example, Renoir and Monet’s pictures of La Grenouillere in 1869 a little difficult. On the other hand, it was interesting to read on that page that the meaning, “frog pond”, actually referred to “loose” young women who slept around, and who frequented that area.
And how great it was to read of Manet whispering to Monet about Renoir, while the two (Renoir and Monet) were side-by-side and painting Monet’s wife and son: “The young man has no talent! … You’re his friend, tell him he should stop painting!”; although caveated as perhaps Monet’s invention or a joke of Manet’s, wouldn’t the garden in Argenteuil at that moment in 1874 have been a great place to be? And the book transports you there, at least a little bit, as all great art does. Enjoy with a glass of wine and let your mind freely interpret the paintings before moving from one to the next.
There is a clear reference in Monet’s “Impressionism, Sunrise” (1872) to works of J.M.W. Turner from decades before, and perhaps “The Fighting Téméraire tugged to her last Berth to be broken” (1839) or one of his other works should have been #1 here to be a bit provocative, but no matter. The selection of paintings is outstanding, many of which are probably instantly recognizable and others of which are less so, but I won’t focus on my favorites here, and instead pass along the interest anecdotes and side commentary which elevated the book for me.
One learns of the artists’ struggles: Morisot fighting the belief that “real” art was a profession for men only, and Cassatt’s father going so far as to say he’d rather have her dead than attempt it. Liebermann fighting anti-German sentiment, as the French (including their artists) still had the sting of the Franco-Prussian war in their minds. Monet fleeing creditors in the days before “making it”, abandoning his pregnant wife Camille, and slashing nearly 200 paintings at one point. Sisley and Pissarro’s poverty, and Cezanne’s paintings being cut up into smaller pieces of artwork to increase sales.
Renoir’s interest in breasts, and quipping “A breast is round and warm. If God had not created the breasts of woman, I would probably never have become a painter!” This alongside “A Young Girl with Daisies” (1889), where I note, uh, that’s not all she has. Ahem. Sorry. His painting of his lovers, for example, Marguerite in “Nude in the Sunlight” (1876), and the 17-year-old Suzanne Valadon who slept with and modeled for several painters, Renoir included, appearing in “Dance in the City” (1883). That’s a popular painting which reflects the joy of togetherness (in a complimentary way to “Dance in the Country” from 1882); it’s ironic to me that Valadon was pregnant at the time and probably didn’t know who the father was.
These guys were far from perfect. Toulouse-Latrec was addicted to alcohol and led a dissolute lifestyle, spent days at a time in expensive brothels, and died at 37 of a protracted case of syphilis. There is certainly nothing attractive about the used-up, wasted, exhausted and dejected look of the women in “The Sofa” (1894-96), but what a perfect accompaniment to that information. Gaugin left his career as a stockbroker and abandoned his family to paint following the 1882 stock exchange crash. Van Gogh wanted to set up a salon for artists in the south of France, yet was extraordinarily awkward and lonely, and said “I do not have to see so many painters who, as human beings, I despise.” It’s sad that towards the end he wanted to reconcile with Gaugin, but the two would never see each other again following their famous argument, and that his delusions would cause his neighbors to force him to be re-institutionalized multiple times.
The artist at the vanguard of the movement, Manet, comes across as an interesting character, in his challenging, confrontational, unapologetic style, in his reading and friendship with the gritty realist Zola (resulting in “Nana”, 1877), and in his fondness for going to the horse races with Degas.
Monet does as well. I wasn’t aware that he had gotten the director of the Saint-Lazare train station to delay trains, close platforms, and deliberately have the locomotives fill the air with as much smoke as he wanted to get the right effect for his 1877 painting. He also damned up a branch of the Seine over the concerns of his neighbors to create the pond at Giverny featured in “Bridge over a Pool of Water Lilies” (1899) and so many other of his works. Whereas Degas deliberately tried not to recreate what he saw in front of him (“a painting is, first and foremost, the product of an artistic fantasy”), Monet carried dozens of canvases with him and literally switched between them while painting as light and shadows changed in the attempt to come as close as possible to recreating the impressions of a scene over a spectrum of conditions. In the case of the Houses of Parliament, he took this to an extreme, surrounding himself with 80 (80!) canvases and frantically switching between them. It was interesting to see Monet’s focus on the depiction of light evolve over the years.
My only teeny tiny complaint was that the paintings that were occasionally inset (not the main 50), as well as those included in the introduction, were too small. This made contrasting, for example, Renoir and Monet’s pictures of La Grenouillere in 1869 a little difficult. On the other hand, it was interesting to read on that page that the meaning, “frog pond”, actually referred to “loose” young women who slept around, and who frequented that area.
And how great it was to read of Manet whispering to Monet about Renoir, while the two (Renoir and Monet) were side-by-side and painting Monet’s wife and son: “The young man has no talent! … You’re his friend, tell him he should stop painting!”; although caveated as perhaps Monet’s invention or a joke of Manet’s, wouldn’t the garden in Argenteuil at that moment in 1874 have been a great place to be? And the book transports you there, at least a little bit, as all great art does. Enjoy with a glass of wine and let your mind freely interpret the paintings before moving from one to the next.
March 21, 2025
I enjoyed this book a lot. After a brief introduction to Impressionism and its key players, it presents 50 significant pieces in chronological order. Accompanying each selected piece is a page of background about the piece and its artist. It felt like a guided tour through a period of stunning innovation, where the artists collaborated and built upon each other, but were often ridiculed and rejected by the art establishment.
May 23, 2017
This is a fantastic book. It's chockfull of useful information and information I was previously not familiar with. The paintings are lovely and coupled with useful details about the author and the paintings. This is a book to buy-it's that good! I try to pace myself and just soak up all the wonderful details.
September 4, 2023
This book was extremely informative and entertaining. I reread this book years after buying it and got into art history because of it. The writing is packed full of information while being extremely accessible. Each painting is accompanied by some interesting information about the painting or biographical information about the artist that created it, and I could look at the paintings all day long. My only critique is an obscure academic one that doesn’t even have anything to do with the accuracy of this book. This book made a great introduction to Impressionism for me.
July 23, 2025
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I wish this author would create books for all the great art movements because I learned SO much from her! She kept her facts precise, to the point, and yet wrote so beautifully that she told their stories in a way that kept me turning the pages. It was wonderful.
October 27, 2024
10x cooler after having just gone to monets water Lilly pond and gardens
September 24, 2009
I don't know what sparked my sudden interest in Impressionism, but this book has been a great, accesible primer on the subject.
This is a wonderful primer/introduction to the world of Impressionism.
It mostly sticks with the French and Europeans that began and defined the movement, but also touches on some of the Americans who used the style, as well as some of the 'kids' who came along towards the decline of the movement, who would go on to be consider the Post-Impressionists.
This is a wonderful primer/introduction to the world of Impressionism.
It mostly sticks with the French and Europeans that began and defined the movement, but also touches on some of the Americans who used the style, as well as some of the 'kids' who came along towards the decline of the movement, who would go on to be consider the Post-Impressionists.
April 17, 2010
This "50 book" was much better then the fist one I read "50 Artists you should know". The history in the beginning gave a good introduction of where impressionism came from and what they were trying to accomplish. It was very heavy on Manet and Monet (and again in my book Manet is not an impressionist!). I wish there was more Gauguin and Van Gogh there only I think three of there works. I almost like there work better then Manet, but each to their own. A better coffee table book.
March 1, 2015
Being a huge impressionist lover it's no doubt this book jumped off the shelf at me saying "Pick Me Pick Me!" This is a wonderful book filled with reproductions of the paintings. Each has a short bio of the artist, accompanied by explanatory notes about their style and how they contributed to the development of impressionism. If you are a new to the art world this is a nice introduction for someone starting out.
April 1, 2016
For what this was it was really really good. This was a great introduction to both Impressionism and the artists behind it. I have to say the history at the start of the book was a little boring but it did help me understand a lot of the things they said about the paintings or painters themselves. I love that they included female impressionists in here. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for an introduction to this part of art or even just the subject of art itself.
November 6, 2011
A great introduction to the art by impressionist painters. I read this book as a precursor to an exhibit on impressionsim at the Milwaukee Art Museum. It was very helpful as a review before the viewing. It's simplicity was appreciated, and it highlighted the best of the best. Beautiful colored plates.
November 19, 2010
Very good book for a self-study of 50 major Impressionist works and their artists. I have actually seen several of these paintings in museums in US and in Europe, so this is a nice way to follow up with more context.
April 8, 2009
Great way to learn a lot in a short time about impressionism, the artists' lives & the politics of art at the time. Well done.
December 26, 2012
A great introduction
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews