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The Lost Notebook of Édouard Manet
Set in the richly drawn art world of nineteenth-century Paris, this stunning historical novel imagines Édouard Manet’s last days in an indelible snapshot of genius, illness, and the dying embers of passion.
Suffering from the complications of syphilis toward the end of his life, Édouard Manet begins to jot down his daily impressions, reflections, and memories in a notebook. He travels for healing respites in the French countryside and finds inspiration in nature―a cloud of dragonflies, peonies blanketed by the morning dew. Back in Paris, the artist holds court in his studio and meets a mysterious muse, Suzon. Entranced by Suzon’s cool blue eyes, he decides to paint his final masterpiece, A Bar at the Folies-Bergere, life-sized―and wagers his health to complete it. In a sensual portrait of Manet’s last years, illustrated with his own sketches, Maureen Gibbon offers a vibrant testament to the endurance of the artistic spirit.
Suffering from the complications of syphilis toward the end of his life, Édouard Manet begins to jot down his daily impressions, reflections, and memories in a notebook. He travels for healing respites in the French countryside and finds inspiration in nature―a cloud of dragonflies, peonies blanketed by the morning dew. Back in Paris, the artist holds court in his studio and meets a mysterious muse, Suzon. Entranced by Suzon’s cool blue eyes, he decides to paint his final masterpiece, A Bar at the Folies-Bergere, life-sized―and wagers his health to complete it. In a sensual portrait of Manet’s last years, illustrated with his own sketches, Maureen Gibbon offers a vibrant testament to the endurance of the artistic spirit.
336 pages, Paperback
First published September 7, 2021
219 people are currently reading
2417 people want to read
About the author
Maureen Gibbon
7 books59 followersMaureen Gibbon is the author of Paris Red and two previous novels. Her fiction and nonfiction have appeared in the New York Times, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Playboy, Byliner, and elsewhere. She lives in Park Rapids, Minnesota.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 72 reviews
October 7, 2021
I really liked this novel. It didn’t read as fast as I thought it would because I kept stopping to look up his paintings, or facts from his life, or medical information from the time. I would highly recommend this to all art lovers.
October 19, 2021
Maureen Gibbon's "The Lost Notebook of Édouard Manet" is an exceptional and nuanced novel. Written from Manet's perspective, it is a journal of the last three years of his life as he reflects on his art, the women around him, his insecurities and choices while his body becomes more and more ravaged by syphilis. Through all of this he perseveres to create his last masterpiece "A Bar at the Folies-Bergère". Gibbon fully embodies Manet and how he views the world. It is one thing to recreate to a voice, but she also captures a way of seeing and feeling that feels authentic and vulnerable; it is finely-wrought. Sometimes I forgot that I was reading fiction-- fully believing that I was reading about a man settling the score with himself.
As one of the forefathers of Impressionism, Manet's work was repeatedly rejected by the Paris Salon. His subject and style was much too scandalous for the demimonde, and his art challenges the viewer to recognize hard truths about their lives: "When people must decide something for themselves, they panic. They want instead a story that is immediately recognizable, and that immediacy is key. Yet in the truly modern, you sometimes have to take the time and decipher. The time in front of a work is crucial. Yet that makes people uncomfortable, too They have to stand in front of a naked woman with no uplifting myth or ideal-- someone they might see in the street. They have to look upon a desperate man alone in a room, someone who looks like them or someone they know. And that is unbearable" (163). This put me in mind of the author, Maureen Gibbon. There are no accolades of awards or being ranked on any bestsellers list. I, as one who loves Manet and who seeks out books about him, have never heard of her before, despite this being her second book about him. This book asks the reader to confront mortality and aging and a time when our best years are behind us. It is not done in a style that is meant to entertain (while it is deeply rewarding). Yet, it is as fine, if not finer, of a book as those by blockbuster writers such as Amor Towles or Nobel Prize winners like Olga Tokarczuk. Like the attendees at the Salon, we still flock to the popular while those with potent truths to tell are overlooked.
Highly recommend this book.
As one of the forefathers of Impressionism, Manet's work was repeatedly rejected by the Paris Salon. His subject and style was much too scandalous for the demimonde, and his art challenges the viewer to recognize hard truths about their lives: "When people must decide something for themselves, they panic. They want instead a story that is immediately recognizable, and that immediacy is key. Yet in the truly modern, you sometimes have to take the time and decipher. The time in front of a work is crucial. Yet that makes people uncomfortable, too They have to stand in front of a naked woman with no uplifting myth or ideal-- someone they might see in the street. They have to look upon a desperate man alone in a room, someone who looks like them or someone they know. And that is unbearable" (163). This put me in mind of the author, Maureen Gibbon. There are no accolades of awards or being ranked on any bestsellers list. I, as one who loves Manet and who seeks out books about him, have never heard of her before, despite this being her second book about him. This book asks the reader to confront mortality and aging and a time when our best years are behind us. It is not done in a style that is meant to entertain (while it is deeply rewarding). Yet, it is as fine, if not finer, of a book as those by blockbuster writers such as Amor Towles or Nobel Prize winners like Olga Tokarczuk. Like the attendees at the Salon, we still flock to the popular while those with potent truths to tell are overlooked.
Highly recommend this book.
May 6, 2024
This is written as though the reader is peeking at a diary of the great artist Edouard Manet as he muses through his day. Very imaginative, and interesting take on the struggles he had being recognized by the artist community. Manet is suffering end stages of syphillis. He carries on with drawings and painting.he reflects on his stance in his subject's compositions. Reading this caused me stop and look up other artists mentioned and of course all of the art!
December 26, 2023
I was interested to pick this book up buy wasn't able to quite focus on the novel. It wad writing a bit differently, in a dairy form and it wasn't really my thing.
July 14, 2022
A deceptively simple, but supremely poignant novel about Manet's final three years of life, told from his point of view. It took me a while to read, but that was partly due to savoring it and how the book is essentially journal entries, some almost daily, some days or weeks apart. Some short, some longer. All descriptive, witty, humorous, heartfelt, even heartbreaking. A true masterpiece for art lovers in particular.
June 23, 2021
Told in the form of a notebook, this diary of the later years of Edouard Manet is both lovely and sad. Sad in that his later years are plagued with syphilis and the accompanying decline, but lovely in the memories reflected. Manet is determined to finish a final work- A Bar at the Folies-Bergere (coincidentally one of my favorite works of the age). We read of his attempts to paint while suffering severe health issues and traveling back and forth between a sanitarium where he receives treatment and Paris, where he works. The allusions to nature are lovely, as are the actual sketches reproduced in the notebook. I received an ARC of this novel in exchange for a review.
January 11, 2023
Questo diario immaginato mi è piaciuto da morire.
January 8, 2023
I belong to an ekphrastic (about art) book club. We cover a range of periods and artists, both fiction, including fictional artists, and nonfiction. Although this book included a lot of references to Manet’s paintings and companions, I don’t know how well Gibbon captured his voice. The annoying sexism and egotism of the male French Impressionists seems largely well documented, but I’d heard that Manet was quite supportive of his sister-in-law, Berthe Morisot’s art, giving her her first easel. Perhaps a woe is me attitude is normal when one is in constant pain and dying before he meets his life’s ambitions. Fortunately, Manet did enjoy some last minute success.
I mostly enjoyed the sections focusing on art and the annoying, fusty old Académie Française. A bit ironic that the female artists were so little respected without recourse while the Manets and Monets of the world were outraged at being slighted. Still we can’t go back in time and alter attitudes, so there was a lot to interest a French Impressionism fan. I enjoyed the short diary entries that let me set the book aside when Manet was having his worst pity parties.
I mostly enjoyed the sections focusing on art and the annoying, fusty old Académie Française. A bit ironic that the female artists were so little respected without recourse while the Manets and Monets of the world were outraged at being slighted. Still we can’t go back in time and alter attitudes, so there was a lot to interest a French Impressionism fan. I enjoyed the short diary entries that let me set the book aside when Manet was having his worst pity parties.
March 14, 2022
It’s described as a novel, but it’s more like an epistolary diary, purportedly written by the painter Manet in his last years. Some entries are very short—a single sentence, even a single letter—to indicate his physical and psychic pain. He discusses art a bit and reflects on some of his paintings, but I wanted more information on his creative activities and other artists of the Impressionist era. I was reading it as an art critic, which explains why I felt short-changed.
August 12, 2024
This is the last of the books I picked up before vacation last month. It was easy enough, set up as a "lost" journal of Manet detailing his decline over the last two years of his life. The entries are very short and there is certainly development to the plot, but it was not very compelling. I'll include the good quotes/turns of phrases:
"During the time it takes me to write to her, I am diverted. I become the person I pretend to be on the page. In the days that I wait for her reply, I am hopeful. On edge in a pleasant way. I look forward to the mail arriving without seeming too obvious about it. I let myself daydream and create fantacies. When too much time passess without response, I grow resentful. I find myself making resolutions. Declartions. Then I let myself forget my disappointment so I can craft a new note, upon which I may place fresh hope, so the cycle can begin again."
"If I learn to live with my pain, it means I accept that I cannot be free from it. That my health, as I once knew it, is not a state to which I can return."
"I both denounced and wanted recognition from the same entity. Which is a proof of a kind of madness or hubris."
"The ugly things I have learned to steel myself against but not the generous ones."
"that is the way with love affairs--they occupy your mind wholly for a time, and then they become distance countries where you no longer speak the language and have forgotten all the landmarks."
"you must be deluded to make art. You must believe so much in the hing that is in your head, and your head only, that you put aside everything else in order to bring it to life for others to see."
"During the time it takes me to write to her, I am diverted. I become the person I pretend to be on the page. In the days that I wait for her reply, I am hopeful. On edge in a pleasant way. I look forward to the mail arriving without seeming too obvious about it. I let myself daydream and create fantacies. When too much time passess without response, I grow resentful. I find myself making resolutions. Declartions. Then I let myself forget my disappointment so I can craft a new note, upon which I may place fresh hope, so the cycle can begin again."
"If I learn to live with my pain, it means I accept that I cannot be free from it. That my health, as I once knew it, is not a state to which I can return."
"I both denounced and wanted recognition from the same entity. Which is a proof of a kind of madness or hubris."
"The ugly things I have learned to steel myself against but not the generous ones."
"that is the way with love affairs--they occupy your mind wholly for a time, and then they become distance countries where you no longer speak the language and have forgotten all the landmarks."
"you must be deluded to make art. You must believe so much in the hing that is in your head, and your head only, that you put aside everything else in order to bring it to life for others to see."
August 17, 2021
A DRC was provided by Edelweiss in exchange for a fair and dazzled review.
A lovely and poignant journey through the imagined musings of Edouard Manet as he slowly died from syphilis. What could have been a mawkish and wrongfooted expose of yet another Great Painter Gone Wrong is an engaging book full of insightful musings on Manet's relationship to his health, family, friends, women, models, and most of all, the scenes and objects that inspired his revolutionary works. Most touching are the small sketches by Manet scattered throughout the book that continually underscore how he saw art in most things, and was able to capture images with his prodigious skills even as the public struggled to accept his vision. The journal as he struggles with pain, terror, loneliness, and a longstanding fear of failure and disdain from his critics is also full of memories, appreciations of the servants who care for him and the friends who try to buoy his spirits, a few scalding appraisals of critics who will never understand his art and most of all, joy and awe in the talent and inspiration that sustains him as all his powers fail. Though the book celebrates the huge effort of creation of his last great work, Un bar aux Folies Bergeres, I especially appreciated Manet's delight in flowers, fruits and other seemingly ordinary objects that were the subjects of his some of his greatest late still lifes. Kudos to Gibbons for her delicate and profound understanding of Manet, who could be a self-absorbed and selfish man of his times, but whose humanity shines forth in the light of his genius and the art he left behind.
A lovely and poignant journey through the imagined musings of Edouard Manet as he slowly died from syphilis. What could have been a mawkish and wrongfooted expose of yet another Great Painter Gone Wrong is an engaging book full of insightful musings on Manet's relationship to his health, family, friends, women, models, and most of all, the scenes and objects that inspired his revolutionary works. Most touching are the small sketches by Manet scattered throughout the book that continually underscore how he saw art in most things, and was able to capture images with his prodigious skills even as the public struggled to accept his vision. The journal as he struggles with pain, terror, loneliness, and a longstanding fear of failure and disdain from his critics is also full of memories, appreciations of the servants who care for him and the friends who try to buoy his spirits, a few scalding appraisals of critics who will never understand his art and most of all, joy and awe in the talent and inspiration that sustains him as all his powers fail. Though the book celebrates the huge effort of creation of his last great work, Un bar aux Folies Bergeres, I especially appreciated Manet's delight in flowers, fruits and other seemingly ordinary objects that were the subjects of his some of his greatest late still lifes. Kudos to Gibbons for her delicate and profound understanding of Manet, who could be a self-absorbed and selfish man of his times, but whose humanity shines forth in the light of his genius and the art he left behind.
May 30, 2021
I was fortunate to receive an ARC (Advance Reading Copy) of this book, which will be published in September 2021, from the publisher via a library conference. I finished it in just a few sittings and enjoyed it very much.
The novel is written as if it is a series of journal entries by the painter Manet during the final years of his life. He is stricken with syphilis but still at the height of his painting career. It is about falling in love with everyday things and moments as only one realizing the briefness of his remaining time can fully appreciate. Just as one who paints from life must notice the subtleties of his subjects, even if they are lemons or peonies, Manet, while suffering from progressive disability and pain due to syphilis, sees moments of each day with a new awareness of their significance. Some of Manet's sketches and other illustrations are included in the book to add to the sense of it as a journal.
As an art school grad, I sometimes feel that books about painting and painters don't quite hit the mark, but in this case, the writing rings true to me and is believable. The author seems to have done her homework about Manet's life and art and the time period in which he lived. The best historical fiction is thoroughly enjoyable while making you feel as if you are learning something about another time and place. The best biographies (even fictionalized ones, like this) make you feel as if you are getting inside another person's head and understanding their perspective. This book does both. I think it will be very well-received.
The novel is written as if it is a series of journal entries by the painter Manet during the final years of his life. He is stricken with syphilis but still at the height of his painting career. It is about falling in love with everyday things and moments as only one realizing the briefness of his remaining time can fully appreciate. Just as one who paints from life must notice the subtleties of his subjects, even if they are lemons or peonies, Manet, while suffering from progressive disability and pain due to syphilis, sees moments of each day with a new awareness of their significance. Some of Manet's sketches and other illustrations are included in the book to add to the sense of it as a journal.
As an art school grad, I sometimes feel that books about painting and painters don't quite hit the mark, but in this case, the writing rings true to me and is believable. The author seems to have done her homework about Manet's life and art and the time period in which he lived. The best historical fiction is thoroughly enjoyable while making you feel as if you are learning something about another time and place. The best biographies (even fictionalized ones, like this) make you feel as if you are getting inside another person's head and understanding their perspective. This book does both. I think it will be very well-received.
July 19, 2021
Édouard Manet was in his mid-forties when he began to suffer the effects of syphilis and died when he was only 51 (soon after the book ends.) The “lost notebook” contains his journal entries for the last 3 years, or so, of his life. I love when a book has a good story as well as inspires me to learn new things. I spent, at least, several hours exploring Manet’s paintings, his models, friends and family, the history of syphilis, etc. However, I believe the book would still be enjoyable for readers who are not interested in doing extracurricular research. I enjoyed the notebook format and loved the writing. I highlighted several passages, but a couple quotes that stood out to me were: “You never think of health until it begins to fade.” And Manet’s notebook entry about how it’s easy to remember “firsts” but” What is much harder is to know the last of things. Those you do not recognize until time has passed.” How true!
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and have already recommended it.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and have already recommended it.
January 3, 2024
I was extremely impressed with this book. I found myself wondering if this was indeed fiction because Gibbon’s ability to portray the voice of Edouard Manet as authentic, even though I have never read any of his writings, of which several have been preserved as I found out at the library. I cannot even image the pain and suffering he went though with the disease and the loss of his ability to paint, let alone just get through the day. Her descriptions about the interactions with people of his time are wonderful, so much so I also began reading about them. The way in which the author describes Manet’s musings about painting and colors is so intense that it has prompted me to return to drawing. Very few authors can excite a reader to that level and to investigate people of the story outside of the story and Maureen Gibbon has done exactly that, kudos to a job well done.
June 23, 2021
A perfect book for Francophiles...especially with "artistic" leanings. Although fictional, I felt, based on the author's use of some exceptional sources, this read as an actual diary of the great artist's last years. The desperation due to his illness, his determination to continue his work and the intimacy he felt with his many muses truly read as a diary that he added to as he continued the inevitable downward spiral. I appreciated the author's casual style and how much of the Parisian "everyday" life found its way into the diary. An illuminating read into the life and processes of a true genius. Highly recommended!
October 17, 2021
Quiet, Touching, Fictional Account of Manet’s Last Years
This is a fictional diary by Manet while he discusses his last three years and the women he drew. I found it touching.
This is a fictional diary by Manet while he discusses his last three years and the women he drew. I found it touching.
dnf
December 4, 2021Dnf @70%
Not what I expected "/
Not what I expected "/
May 1, 2023
It seemed to capture what I think Manet was like. I enjoyed the references to different works and the end of his life was written about with a mix of sadness and acceptance.
August 28, 2022
"I think I sometimes trusted others' opinions of me more than I trusted my own. Yet who among those that criticized knew me as well as I know myself?"
Heartbreaking, inspiring, and as unapologetically candid as a fictionalized notebook could be.
Heartbreaking, inspiring, and as unapologetically candid as a fictionalized notebook could be.
July 22, 2023
I enjoyed it, but wanted to like it more. Perhaps I found the ubiquitousness of Manet's illness too realistic. It's more the Last Notebook, rather than the Lost one.
May 14, 2022
Gibbon's novel is composed as a series of journal entries written by the artist Manet as his health declined from syphilis.
In imagining his inner thoughts, the author covers Manet's complex feelings about his art and its long rejection by contemporary critics, the controversy it aroused, and his determination to keep painting as he felt he must, even as his physical life became smaller and smaller.
As his strength and sense of possibility wax and wane, he both accepts and pushes the boundaries of his limits. "But you must be deluded to make art. You must believe so much in the thing that was in your head, and your head only, that you put aside everything else in order to bring it to life for others to see."
With a 21st century eye, it's hard to understand how Manet's paintings could have been considered so radical and out of sync with what was considered acceptable art. Now we have access to the creation of just about anything and everything, even if we don't always like it.
But it's not a bad thing to consider a world where instant stardom is not the goal, where the artist spends their years refining their vision, rather than jumping on the latest trend. Although Manet craved acceptance, he did not let it modify who he was an an artist.
"You cannot demand that people see what you see." But you can still give it form.
In imagining his inner thoughts, the author covers Manet's complex feelings about his art and its long rejection by contemporary critics, the controversy it aroused, and his determination to keep painting as he felt he must, even as his physical life became smaller and smaller.
As his strength and sense of possibility wax and wane, he both accepts and pushes the boundaries of his limits. "But you must be deluded to make art. You must believe so much in the thing that was in your head, and your head only, that you put aside everything else in order to bring it to life for others to see."
With a 21st century eye, it's hard to understand how Manet's paintings could have been considered so radical and out of sync with what was considered acceptable art. Now we have access to the creation of just about anything and everything, even if we don't always like it.
But it's not a bad thing to consider a world where instant stardom is not the goal, where the artist spends their years refining their vision, rather than jumping on the latest trend. Although Manet craved acceptance, he did not let it modify who he was an an artist.
"You cannot demand that people see what you see." But you can still give it form.
January 4, 2022
What a wonderful discovery. Manet has long been a favorite artist of mine, but I’ve not known a lot about him. It was a real treat to dive into his imagined world through Gibbon, who based her book on real people and events in Manet’s life. Normally, I hate first person, but Gibbon so perfectly captures Manet’s voice that it didn’t bother me in the least. She’s a magnificent writer and there were so many beautiful turns of phrase here, but without being too over the top. I’m going to have to hunt down her first book as soon as I can.
August 29, 2023
In my opinion, this is such an underrated book. I think all lovers of art/Manet should read this book. While there is not much to it, it really does seem like these are diary entries. I love how Gibbon made it this way instead of very detailed descriptions of his day. In this way, it actually makes me feel connected to the painter and it humanizes him. This quick read is beautifully written and I will definitely read again as a Manet fan.
May 5, 2023
This was a beautifully written epistolary novel with lots of raw emotion. Using diary entries was a great way to perceive the world through a painter’s eyes. While I’ve been a lover of Manet’s works for a long time, I didn’t know much about his personal history. This story brought to life his agonizing decline as he suffered from syphilis, and his obsessive joy with painting and ability to find beautiful things in the world.
It’s hard to say that this novel has a plot - it moves too slow for that, and we don’t see any “action” or movement forward. Rather, we see the evolution of Manet’s thoughts as his physical health fails him, and that’s where the richness of the story lies. I can appreciate the novel for what it is, but I also found myself wanting more: more context, more paintings, more story. I would often pause my reading and slip away to search for images of a given painting so I could hold it in my mind while reading Manet’s descriptions. I was also curious about the cast of side characters and wanted to read more of their interactions with Manet so I could grasp the progression of his life and his struggles. The diary entries were from Manet’s perspective, so they omitted a great deal of sociopolitical background and details on why Manet was such a controversial artist and had many critics. Essentially, I wanted more history in this historical fiction…and I would’ve been happy with more of Manet’s doodles on the pages too!
Nevertheless, this was such a pleasant, leisurely read. I thought the author had a striking way with words and I hope to read more of her works. I had to jot down some of my favorite quotes:
“The trick is always to be in love - Victorine told me that. Not just in love with a person but with things. With flowers or colors or cats or windows, with anything you see everyday. So I will be in love with peonies in the peony kingdom at the foot of the garden.”
“People occur over and over. Not in the same city, not in the same lifetime, but over centuries.”
“How my critics would laugh if they knew the power a bit of praise had over me. The ugly things I have learned to steel myself against but not the generous ones. Which is as it should be. In this dog of a life one has to endure.”
“Ah well. I hope the rain reminds the boat of the sea.”
“It is either a failing or my best quality that it takes so little to interest me.”
I think I enjoyed the book all the more for reading it slowly, a few pages at a time, over the span of a month, and taking significant breaks to go look at photos of Manet’s works online. This was not a history lesson, but it was a glimpse into the life and mind of a fascinating painter. 4/5 stars for bringing to life an incredible artist.
It’s hard to say that this novel has a plot - it moves too slow for that, and we don’t see any “action” or movement forward. Rather, we see the evolution of Manet’s thoughts as his physical health fails him, and that’s where the richness of the story lies. I can appreciate the novel for what it is, but I also found myself wanting more: more context, more paintings, more story. I would often pause my reading and slip away to search for images of a given painting so I could hold it in my mind while reading Manet’s descriptions. I was also curious about the cast of side characters and wanted to read more of their interactions with Manet so I could grasp the progression of his life and his struggles. The diary entries were from Manet’s perspective, so they omitted a great deal of sociopolitical background and details on why Manet was such a controversial artist and had many critics. Essentially, I wanted more history in this historical fiction…and I would’ve been happy with more of Manet’s doodles on the pages too!
Nevertheless, this was such a pleasant, leisurely read. I thought the author had a striking way with words and I hope to read more of her works. I had to jot down some of my favorite quotes:
“The trick is always to be in love - Victorine told me that. Not just in love with a person but with things. With flowers or colors or cats or windows, with anything you see everyday. So I will be in love with peonies in the peony kingdom at the foot of the garden.”
“People occur over and over. Not in the same city, not in the same lifetime, but over centuries.”
“How my critics would laugh if they knew the power a bit of praise had over me. The ugly things I have learned to steel myself against but not the generous ones. Which is as it should be. In this dog of a life one has to endure.”
“Ah well. I hope the rain reminds the boat of the sea.”
“It is either a failing or my best quality that it takes so little to interest me.”
I think I enjoyed the book all the more for reading it slowly, a few pages at a time, over the span of a month, and taking significant breaks to go look at photos of Manet’s works online. This was not a history lesson, but it was a glimpse into the life and mind of a fascinating painter. 4/5 stars for bringing to life an incredible artist.
February 22, 2023
"Si parla di amicizia in queste intense pagine scritte dalla Gibbon, immaginando di essere la mente e la mano di Manet: quella con Baudelaire, con Mallarmé, con Antonin Proust; si discute di arte, ovviamente, dando forma al groviglio di opinioni contrastanti che doveva animare Parigi in quel periodo, a partire dalla concezione del vero, nonché dall’uso dei colori e della luce; si loda la natura, la meraviglia di un vaso pieno di fiori o di un giardino in primavera, la magia delle libellule al vento e il volo degli uccelli; ci si appassiona per il collo di una donna, per la pelle chiara di un’altra, per i gusti piccanti di una terza e per la gioventù di una quarta, senza mai perdere di vista l’affetto nei confronti della moglie e del figlio; si intrattengono conversazioni attorno alla politica, alla società, alle usanze, all’evolversi delle arti grazie agli incontri con colleghi, mecenati, critici, personaggi influenti. Ma, oltre a tutto ciò, c’è un’altra grande protagonista nel diario di Manet ed è la malattia: quel mostro che assume i connotati di polipi attorcigliati attorno alla sua gamba dolente, contro cui ogni giorno l’uomo – al di là del pittore – deve combattere, cercando di assaporare ogni singolo momento".
Leggi la recensione completa qui:
https://www.affaritaliani.it/libri-ed...
Leggi la recensione completa qui:
https://www.affaritaliani.it/libri-ed...
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October 22, 2024Another title from the Triton Art Museum book club. I didn't know quite what to think about this one when it arrived. The format uses chapters of various lengths and incudes some sketches by the artist Edouard Manet to simulate a notebook. Edouard Manet is in decline from complications of syphilis that is especially affecting his mobility. The author succeeds in capturing Manet's voice and point of view. We get to participate in the artist's emotions, experiences and direct impressions of his everyday world in the 1880's. Manet's career was controversial throughout his life yet he continues painting even while in pain. His work bridged the classical and impressionist movements. He was never supported by the Academy who controlled which artists could exhibit in the annual shows. His scandalous portrayal of nude women in "The Odalisque" and "Dejeuner Sur Herbes" where the women were naked at a picnic yet the bourgeois men were fully clothed established his reputation. Manet's models were from the underclass and later his political views did not match the prevailing conservative French government. Maureen Gibbon convincingly portrays Manet's ways of seeing nature in dragonflies and peonies and how he relates to the women who take care of him. At once lyrical and gritty, passionate and contemplative, this novel is surprisingly poignant.
October 21, 2025
Gibbon's writing is always lovely to read. Her perspective on art, artists, and their lives touches me as I turn the pages.
I felt this book was like wine, truly aging well until the end. As I came toward the end, I was thinking This is the best part of this novel. Manet can't buy time; he is trying to keep going. His drive to paint, to create, and write down his thoughts keeps him going most days. That last visit before Good Friday is special with a dear friend as they share a gift of candy. She has this gift of sitting for him. He tries to create a pastel drawing of her as a gift for her. However, he grows tired and can not finish it. Manet asks her to return tomorrow. She agrees. He gives her his notebook and asks her to bring it with her the following day. Manet wants her to have it instead of his family.
This writing is beautiful at times, describing how he goes about creating his art. He also tells about how he sees things. Monet had a great love for nature, cows, and dragonflies. The beauty of the surroundings. He enjoyed being outdoors to paint.
This is another wonderful book by this author! Gibbon gives insight into the past in France. She creates the world of Manet and his friends. There is a great sense of place. The reader can feel the emotions of the art and the artist on her pages.
I felt this book was like wine, truly aging well until the end. As I came toward the end, I was thinking This is the best part of this novel. Manet can't buy time; he is trying to keep going. His drive to paint, to create, and write down his thoughts keeps him going most days. That last visit before Good Friday is special with a dear friend as they share a gift of candy. She has this gift of sitting for him. He tries to create a pastel drawing of her as a gift for her. However, he grows tired and can not finish it. Manet asks her to return tomorrow. She agrees. He gives her his notebook and asks her to bring it with her the following day. Manet wants her to have it instead of his family.
This writing is beautiful at times, describing how he goes about creating his art. He also tells about how he sees things. Monet had a great love for nature, cows, and dragonflies. The beauty of the surroundings. He enjoyed being outdoors to paint.
This is another wonderful book by this author! Gibbon gives insight into the past in France. She creates the world of Manet and his friends. There is a great sense of place. The reader can feel the emotions of the art and the artist on her pages.
January 4, 2022
This book is one that I didn't think that I would pick up. I was intrigued by the way the story was created; with journal entries rather than set chapters in specific months or seasons. I wish there were more on his relationships with his family and how they resolved themselves with his mistresses and other dealings with women during his lifetime. I quite enjoyed the world building that happened when he went to other parts of France, how he described where he was staying, what was there and how it affected him mentally and physically. I also enjoyed how he talked about his feelings and how he said he could not talk to anyone else about them, only this notebook, which may show how men and their feelings were taken during this time in history, especially for men in the nineteenth century. Overall, super good world building, would not recommend for readers under the age of 15, as there are some pretty vulgar things, I enjoyed the friendships that he had with his old friends and the new ones that he made along the way.
July 17, 2021
A Creative Approach
What a creative approach to write a novel. All along I felt I was reading Manet's personal anecdotes. It is a glimpse in the last three years of a man with pain and physical limitations but still an artist. There are descriptions of how the pain limits Manet's whereabouts and the choices of his subjects for sketching, but he discovers small joys in nature that gave him a sense of purpose.
What I found the most interesting in this notebook was Manet, the painter. The painting "A Bar at the Folies-Bergères" is an example of what he wants to paint, why he paints it and how he paints it. I also learned about the world surrounding the life of an artist in Paris in the early 1880s with the competition, the critics, the accolades and the honors. It was a slow read at the beginning, but I found it worth reading till the end. I studied art in college. Thank you BookBrowse and Netgalley for a free ebook in return for an honest review.
What a creative approach to write a novel. All along I felt I was reading Manet's personal anecdotes. It is a glimpse in the last three years of a man with pain and physical limitations but still an artist. There are descriptions of how the pain limits Manet's whereabouts and the choices of his subjects for sketching, but he discovers small joys in nature that gave him a sense of purpose.
What I found the most interesting in this notebook was Manet, the painter. The painting "A Bar at the Folies-Bergères" is an example of what he wants to paint, why he paints it and how he paints it. I also learned about the world surrounding the life of an artist in Paris in the early 1880s with the competition, the critics, the accolades and the honors. It was a slow read at the beginning, but I found it worth reading till the end. I studied art in college. Thank you BookBrowse and Netgalley for a free ebook in return for an honest review.
July 21, 2023
The Lost Notebook of Édouard Manet is a fictional account of the final three years of Manet's life. In his late forties, Manet was suffering through the excruciating effects of tertiary syphilis, but he persisted in two goals: working to finally get recognition from the Paris Salon and completing his masterpiece, A Bar at the Folies-Bergère.
The Lost Notebook of Édouard Manet is a quick and beautiful read. Some diary entries are a single sentence on a page. Gibbon does a fantastic job of capturing the mindset of the artist and his physical deterioration from syphilis. Manet is one of my favorite artists. I studied his works extensively in college and grad school, and I like that this book provided additional historical context to their creation. The book is slow, however, and I wish it weren't in epistolary format. I wanted to dive deeper into Manet's world. However, it is worth a read for art history lovers!
The Lost Notebook of Édouard Manet is a quick and beautiful read. Some diary entries are a single sentence on a page. Gibbon does a fantastic job of capturing the mindset of the artist and his physical deterioration from syphilis. Manet is one of my favorite artists. I studied his works extensively in college and grad school, and I like that this book provided additional historical context to their creation. The book is slow, however, and I wish it weren't in epistolary format. I wanted to dive deeper into Manet's world. However, it is worth a read for art history lovers!
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