Paris in Ruins
eBook - ePub

Paris in Ruins

The Siege, the Commune and the Birth of Impressionism

  1. 384 pages
  2. English
  3. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

Paris in Ruins

The Siege, the Commune and the Birth of Impressionism

About this book

Pulitzer-winner Sebastian Smee relives the remarkable birth of Impressionism from the ashes of war

'Enjoyable... a fine portrait not only of impressionism but the society that made it possible' THE SUNDAY TIMES

Paris, January 1871 – the final, agonising days of the Franco-Prussian War. As the German army cements its advantage, shells rattle through the Left Bank. It is a bitterly cold winter; there is no fuel, no medicine, no food. The city’s poorer citizens have long turned to eating rats, cats and dogs. France has been brought to its knees.

Édouard Manet, Berthe Morisot, and Edgar Degas are trapped in the besieged city. Renoir and Bazille have joined regiments outside of Paris, while Monet and Pissarro fled the country just in time. Out of the Siege and the Commune, these artists developed a newfound sense of the fragility of life. A feeling for transience – reflected in Impressionism’s emphasis on fugitive light, shifting seasons, glimpsed street scenes, and the impermanence of all things – would change art history forever.

This is the extraordinary account of the ‘Terrible Year’ in Paris and its monumental impact on the rise of Impressionism.

***

'Vigorous and enjoyable' DAILY TELEGRAPH

'Smee has a gimlet eye, a seductive style and a novelist’s feel for character and incident' NEW YORK TIMES

'Detailed, lively and at times richly novelistic' LITERARY REVIEW

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Yes, you can access Paris in Ruins by Sebastian Smee in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Art & Art Techniques. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Contents
  4. Author’s Note
  5. Prologue
  6. PART I Salon of 1869
  7. PART II The Siege of Paris
  8. PART III The Commune
  9. PART IV The Birth of Impressionism
  10. Epilogue
  11. Illustrations
  12. Acknowledgments
  13. A Note on Sources
  14. Bibliography
  15. Index
  16. Illustration Credits
  17. Copyright Page