Manet by Himself

by Juliet Wilson-Bareau

bio

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Art History, France, Biography

223 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1991

Reviews

[Tim Nason · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars - The best part of the book is the cover which shows one of Manet's luminous paintings; the reproductions inside the book, showing other Manet works, are likewise stunning. The book attempts to enhance brief biographical sections about the painter with a profuse selection of letters written by Manet to family, friends, collectors and critics, from 1848 to 1883 (the year he died). The book also includes a map, a very detailed list of the plates, plus several pages of biographical notes about Manet's correspondents. All of this is brilliantly conceived but the execution is sadly lacking; the interior design, layout and typography looks like bad word processing, with the type too small (maybe 7 pt?), or an excess of white space around the too-small type (in the sections of letters), but not enough space between sentences in the text areas, with lines set to fill the page-width. The information is all valuable and informative, the reading extremely difficult.

[Annie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I would have enjoyed this book more if I had been reading it side-by-side with a biography on Manet. Many of the letters were squabbles or requests for money or references to events that I didn't quite understand. More context was needed for me to really get something out of it. Still, it would be good to revisit in the future, and I think it made Manet seem very human to me. There is always something humanizing about reading someone's letters, hearing about to their day-to-day life.

Also, there were good reproductions of a handful of Manet's works.

[MacKenzie Alexander · Rating 5 out of 5]

I discovered this book in the library by accident and squealed when I found it by luck at a thrift store. I mostly enjoy the humanness of the letters. There seemed to be a nice balance between ones that talked about his specific pieces versus ones that showed his true emotions — ranging from rage because of rejection, desperation in love, and fear admits a war. The book also has beautiful colored prints of both full paintings, as well as the illustrations that he watercolored on his letters.

[Chantel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Manet by Himself (An Art Book)
I was introduced to Manet during a vacation to Paris so when I saw this book, I decided to pick it up. It was good to flip through to look at the pictures and to read parts but I didn't read it cover to cover.