Book Description

Customer Reviews (3)

An EdouardManet Fan
In my opinion...one of the best books written on Edouard Manet.Well researched and enjoyable to read.Any Manet reader cannot pass this book up!!

hype
a disappointing read.

if you likespeculation unsupported by the facts, then this is the book for you.

A must-have for Manet lovers!!!
Beth Archer Brombert's Edouard Manet: Rebel in a Frock Coat is a must-have for anyone who loves 19th century art, especially that of the great Manet.Brombert has clearly done her research; not only does she critically examine the works of past art historians, she also analyses primary documents.Brombert writes well, clean and concise.The book is fresh and intriguing.I am a graduate student working on Manet's art and this book was a delight to read. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Very good at many points, but lacks comprehensive overview
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Edoard Manet.Although T. J. Clark's masterful THE PAINTING OF MODERN LIFE is the most essential study of Manet in English, it functions better as a theoretical treatise on politics and the philosophy of art than as an introduction to Manet's art.But Clark's work keeps in sight something that Krell's work never achieves:a sense of the overall point of Manet's art.

I find overall that Krell discussed quite well various specifics in Manet's work.He is especially good at covering at an introductory level many aspects of particular paintings, and was outstanding at articulating the response of Manet's contemporaries to each work.Like many recent art historians, Krell does a great job of informing the reader of where each major work was originally shown.Previous generations of art historians ignored the context for the public debut of paintings, as if all work was created in an ahistorical vortex divorced from the real world.

What keeps me from giving this book five stars is the lack of any kind of overview of Manet's greater historical significance, and specifically how he helped change the history of art (and change it he certainly did).From reading other works one will learn that Manet was a key figure--in fact, one of the key figures--in moving painting from historical and allegorical subjects to every day subjects.But Krell hardly alludes to this, although its having been the case underlies nearly everything he writes about Manet.There is furthermore absolutely no effort to distinguish Manet from the Impressionists and the painters who followed in his wake.He might cover the way that Manet treats cafe life in contrast to Degas, or he might allude to the fact that Manet rarely painted in plain air unlike the Impressionists, but all in all he does not do an especially good job of explaining what made Manet unique.On the other hand, I found his frequent allusions to the social alienation of the characters in Manet's paintings to be very helpful.Although I was previously familiar with Manet's paintings, I had never before been made aware of the degree to which the various individuals in his paintings fail to interact with one another.Manet emerges not merely as the recorder of social life of his time, but witness to the social alienation inherent in modern life.

Does what it's supposed to do
This book is very brief -- about two hundred pages, but only about one-third of that is text -- but it accomplishes what in my view a book of this sort should do: it makes clear, on an introductory level, why Manet is an important painter and what his innovations were. Many books of this sort dwell on insignificant trivia surrounding the artist and his work, without engaging in any real analysis. This one doesn't do that; the basics of Manet's significance as an artist are made clear. It is also very readable and unpretentious.

Having said that, it does have some flaws. It tends to lose focus toward the end, and to meander somewhat. Discussion of Impressionist artists, ostensibly for purposes of comparison with Manet, seem excessive and tangential at times. And a bit more discussion of Manet's relationship to Realists such as Courbet would have been welcome.

Nevertheless, a worthwhile investment of time and money.Some good reproductions as well. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Should be in any art lover's collection!!
This is a GREAT BOOK!!!! You do not have to know anything about art history to be able to appreciate and admire Manet's paintings. Lallemand is a wonderful author.He portrays his subject in an honest way without condemning or praising him, letting the reader decide. The thing I like about the books that Lallemand writes--3 that I know of--is that they are these oversized coffee table books (144 pages), filled with info on the artist, and best of all, IN COLOR PAINTINGS ON EVERY PAGE. This is not like other art books, where the majority of paintings are in black and white, rather the reader gets to savor every picture because they are in color. Plus, there are details and close ups of some of the more famous paintings. And there are over 100 paintings. (Not tiny pictures either, whole pages, two pages even, are used to show the paintings.) [...] I hope everyone who enjoys art owns this book.It is a joy to look through and see the artistry and mastery of Manet. ... Read more

Book Description
Manet, a founding father of modernism, is one of the towering figures of nineteenth-century art. In this absorbing book, Carol Armstrong looks closely at Manet's works to uncover a novel and compelling view not only of the artist but also of modernity itself. As she places his art within frameworks of color, the feminine Other (the "Manette" in "Manet"), and consumerism, Armstrong greatly expands and revises our understanding of this artist as a painter of modern life.

Surveying most of Manet's diverse output, the book addresses along the way his methods of self-presentation, his exhibition strategies, the relation of his etchings and paintings, the significance of his relationships with the model Victorine Meurent and the painter Berthe Morisot, the painterly construction of identity and gender difference, and much more. At the same time, the book considers contemporary writings by Baudelaire, Zola, the Goncourts, and others who dealt with issues relating to artistic identity and modernity, painting, the model, and femininity. Armstrong concludes that Manet's work demonstrates consistent preoccupations with defining and contradicting his own signature style of painting and with the gendering of costume, color, and the making of his art. These preoccupations, she shows, suggest a new understanding of Manet's oeuvre. ... Read more

Book Description
The execution of Emperor Maximilian of Mexico, in 1867, was the subject of a quartet of paintings by the French Impressionist and early Modernist Edouard Manet. These works are rarely shown together, and in fact cannot be seen in their entirety, since one of them exists only in fragments, but the three intact paintings and the surviving elements of the fourth are reproduced in this publication, and will be shown at The Museum of Modern Art's exhibition in the fall of 2006. Maximilian's death was an event of great public interest in France, in part because French policies shared the responsibility for it. A European aristocrat of the Hapsburg family, Maximilian had been installed in 1864 after a trio of European powers, led by Napoleon III of France, mounted an invasion of Mexico to reclaim debts upon which the Mexican government had suspended payment. But Napoleon soon withdrew, abandoning Maximilian to his fate at the hands of a resurgent Mexican army. As news of the execution reached Paris, Manet reacted with a group of works synthesizing the information as it came to him and drawing heavily on an earlier painting inspired by violent political events, Goya's The Third of May. In addition to analyzing and documenting the creation of these works, John Elderfield, in his text, clarifies their historical importance in the context of modern art, and in so doing, offers a capsular history of the place of current events in art. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

New perspective on history--old and new
Every art history student is familiar with Manet's painting of the Execution of Maximillian.Most have read of the history.This book is the record of a wonderful exhibition at MOMA that has brought together most of the collection--studies, lithos, sketches.You will follow the development: from Goya's inspiration through the original concept of Mexican soldiers administering the execution. Then, the different versions of the final painting in which Manet substitutes French soldiers for the Mexicans, blaming Napoleon for the death because he deserted Maximillian.Manet's politics, influenced by his parents and the injustice and error-ridden actions of Napoleon III, led him to make a statement with his art.(Those events in Mexico remind me of the mess in Iraq.)Make it to the show if you can--in any case this volume should be in every art historian's library.

Manet & the Execution of Maximilian
The author interestingly hints that Manet explains, through his paintings, why Maximilian was offered the throne of Mexico, and later abandoned, by Napoleon III. This interpretation provides a historical perspective, different from the generally accepted. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

The Last Flowers of Manet
Absolutely perfect for my "Deathbed Art" themed lecture. A lovely book.

A Beautiful Little Book
A wonderful yet small collection of reproductions of Manet's last works. A very great artist, at the end of his days, paints exquisite small works of flowers. What else could you want?

Manet's last works are simply perfect!
As an art student studying the techniques of the masters, this little book has been invaluable to me. This is for anyone who seriously wants to experience Manet's genius. His little florals leap off the page! The printing is good, too. Faithfully shows detail and tone well. While nothing replaces seeing these works in person, this book is one every artist should have.

Breathtaking Mastery
During the last months of 1882 Edouard Manet was gravely ill. This was to be the last year of his life.He no longer had the strengh for large ambitious work.With frequent rest periods, he had just completed "ABar at the Folies-Bergere."

Due to his ebbing energy he began topaint on a smaller scale, simple bouquets of flowers in a variety of glassvases.Often these were the flowers friends brought to the convalescingartist.

"The Last Flowers of Manet" is a little gem of a bookpresenting 16 of these elegant, magical paintings.There are etherealwhite lilac blossoms and slashes of pink peony petals shimmering beforerich, black backgrounds. There are roses and tulips in warm, goldenshades.

Just as Matisse in his last days could not make a false strokewhen creating his cutout compositions, so Manet brings total mastery tothese exquisite, soulful still lifes. ... Read more

Book Description
Edouard Manet (1832-1883) was passionate about the sea. Before becoming a painter, he spent six months at sea, and, like many Europeans of his era, he took numerous seaside holidays. Manet made his public debut as a marine painter at the Paris Salon of 1864 with The Battle of the U.S.S. "Kearsarge" and the C.S.S. "Alabama," his dramatic depiction of a U.S. Civil War naval battle off the coast of France, and he continued to paint seascapes throughout his career. These extraordinary works clearly reflect his intimate knowledge of and love for maritime vessels and the sea.Manet and the Sea is the first book to highlight the French master's beautiful and varied seascapes. Essays by leading scholars discuss how Manet completely overturned the established academic conventions of marine painting in France. His provocative approach was equal to that of his contemporary Gustave Courbet, and his bold and innovative techniques inspired many younger artists, including Claude Monet, Berthe Morisot, James McNeill Whistler, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Essays on these and other artists place their seascapes in relation to Manet's pictures.This handsomely illustrated and designed book presents over one hundred paintings and drawings in full color. Anyone interested in the sea, maritime painting, nineteenth-century French painting, and particularly the role Manet played in the Impressionist revolution, will find this an essential book to own. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (1)

A Genius
This book show us a real Genius working. We can see in this book all life that his paints show, in a very critic aspect, with great history beside each one. It is wonderful. I'm brasilian and I fell in love for this book. ... Read more

Amazon.com
Our current understanding of the paintings of Manet is so heavily filtered through the lens of Impressionism that in many ways, his contributions to art history have been obscured. Called the "first modernist," his paintings marked a break with the past and paved the way for what we've come to accept as modern art in the treatment of the canvas as a flat surface. But during his time, Manet's modernist innovations were the object of ridicule. "It's flat, it isn't modeled," said Courbet of the nude in the painting Olympia. "It's like the Queen of Hearts after a bath." In Manet's Modernism, Michael Fried has set out to see Manet as his contemporaries would have seen him and to gain a more accurate reading of Manet's place in history.Book Description

Customer Reviews (1)

Returning to the Cardinal Manet Resource: An Appreciation
Michael Fried published his magnum opus 'Manet's Modernism: or, The Face of Painting in the 1860s' in 1996, the compendium of three books, actually, that remain the most significant resource of the study of the much maligned painter Edouard Manet.In Manet's time he was essentially hidden in the rise of the more popular Impressionists, garnering criticism form his colleagues and critics alike for works that appeared to mannered, too posed, to unnaturally lighted.But fine author and historian Michael Fried introduces some new ideas about the painter that could just place him in the echelon of the first of the Modernists.

Fried 'suggests' that Manet's paintings were for the most part tableaus created in his studio from professional and non-professional models wearing costumes suggestive of the many allegories and historical events that Manet painted.That fact, in and of itself, does not venture Manet much further thatn say, Caravaggio et al, but it is the interplay between the subjects and the painter (and hence the observer) that Fried alls to our attention.The lighting of his paintings seem to have its source from the front as opposed to the back lighting or streams of side lighting usually chosen by other painters.And to make the controversy even more interesting, Fried suggests that this studio technique coupled with various observances of his models' features (eg. barefeet that suggest having worn contemporary type shoes) may - and the important word is 'may' - represent the uses of photography as the tool Manet used!Horrors! you say? But then by the time of the painting period of the 1860s that Fried is exploring, photography was well known and fairly widely used as a means of documenting history, battles, families etc.So why should an artist of Manet's importance not include this new tool in his painting paraphernalia?

It is an interesting concept and one that in today's widely used techniques among artists of not only using photographs to reference 'sittings' for later solo studio work but also to include photography in the canvases (witness Rauschenberg, etc)makes complete sense.Gone are the prejudices against photography as not being 'pure'.And it just may be that Manet, if he indeed used photographs in his painting preparation, is more important in the overall history of painting advancement than he has been regarded!A fascinating book (even at 676 pages) and a fine addition to the library.Grady Harp, January 07 ... Read more

Product Description
Text block pristine, pages tight to spine - 192 page monograph; many lovely color and black and white illustrations. ... Read more

Amazon.com
When Edouard Manet first exhibited his painting titled "Le Chemin de Fer" (the railway) at the Paris Salon in 1874, it was universally derided by critics.The "Gare Saint-Lazare," as the painting has come to be known, depicts a seated woman holding a small dog and staring off the canvas, and a young girl with her back to the viewer regarding a railroad track, steam, and architectural details of a Paris city street just beyond an immense iron fence. It wasn't until long after the painting moved into a private collection that the structures forming its background were identified as part of the iron bridge that spans the railway lines just beyond the station and an exact rendition of the facade of the Manet's studio. The "Gare Saint-Lazare" was Manet's first major work after the Franco-Prussian War, and it marked a break with his earlier, more pastoral subjects in favor of those exploring the burgeoning urbanization and modernization of the industrial age.

Manet, Monet, and the Gare Saint-Lazare, which was published to accompany an exhibit of the same name at the Musée D'Orsay in Paris and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., in 1998, is exceptionally well conceived. With the "Gare Saint-Lazare" as a centerpiece, writer Juliet Wilson-Bareau launches into a survey of the work of Claude Monet, who painted a group of canvases depicting the same neighborhood, and Gustave Caillebotte, whose two most important works portray the same area. She contrasts the artists' vantage points and finished pieces in order to compare their diverse perspectives of a similar scene and examines the symbolism of the steam train as harbinger of a new age. The book includes finely reproduced color images of the painters' work, albumen prints of the area taken during the era in which they were painted, bird's-eye maps of the station, and some contemporary photos of the area. It is a well informed and incisive assessment of both a seminal body of artwork and an important moment in Paris's cultural history. --Jordana MoskowitzBook Description
In 1874, the year of the first Impressionist exhibit, Manet showed his painting Gare Saint-Lazare at the Paris Salon. This book considers the enigmatic painting-exhibited as Le Chemin de fer (The Railway)- and the symbolic importance of the railroad in the work of Manet, Monet, Caillebotte, and other artists of the time. The book identifies the precise site of Manet`s picture and sheds light on the crucial question of plein air versus studio painting. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Fresh perspective, rich documentation, but scattered
In Paris of the 1860s, Baron Haussman decreed the Quartier de l'Europe. Centered around a vastly enlarged Saint-Lazare railroad station - the tracks of which were to run below a monumental bridge fed by six dramatically designed and expensively developed new streets - the neighborhood became a symbol of modernism. As such it attracted a palette of "progressive" painters: not only did Manet and Monet have studios there and produce great canvases inspired by its masses, perspectives, light, and air; so, too, did the academically trained essentialist Caillebotte, who supported his avant-garde friends' work with his own inherited wealth. This richly documented catalogue (for a 1998 exhibit at the Musée d'Orsay and the National Gallery of Washington) supplements an awkwardly organized narrative with maps, photographs, and reproductions that frequently (but not invariably) do justice to the great paintings. (Why, for instance, is Caillebotte's "Paris Street, Rainy Day" shown in monochrome?) The volume also introduces the reader to fine, minor impressionists like Norbert Goeneutte and a precursor of surrealism, Jean Béraud, who combined quasi-photographic effects with collage to suggest a world of dream. All in all, a useful contribution to the cultural study of art ... Read more

Amazon.com
The French artist Édouard Manet was delighted when a client who purchased his painting of a bunch of asparagus paid more than the asking price. So he sent a special thank-you--a tiny image of a single pale spear of the prized vegetable. These and other lushly painted still lifes of flowers, fruits, and other foodstuffs, isolated or in groups, form one of the most beguiling aspects of Manet's output from the 1860s through the early '80s. Manet: The Still-Life Paintings, the catalog for the exhibition at the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore, Maryland, through April 22, 2001, serves as a pleasant introduction to the intimate late work of the great 19th-century realist. With 106 color reproductions, including close-up details of brushwork, the modestly scaled volume makes for a satisfying browse. The most deliciously unexpected treats are the luminous watercolors of fruit, nuts, or flowers that Manet interwove with his personal correspondence.

Earlier in Manet's career, still-life images played a supporting role in figure paintings. Author George Mauner, professor emeritus of art history at Pennsylvania State University, guides the reader to observe such details as the cherry falling in midair in Young Man w ith Cherries. This fascination with instantaneous effects would culminate 11 years later in the smoking rifles of the Mexican troops in The Execution of Emperor Maximilian. Manet, of course, was well aware of the tradition of still life as an invocation of the senses and as a reminder of the fleeting nature of sensual pleasure (and life itself). Mauner explains how this art-historical knowledge offers clues to some of the artist's more enigmatic paintings. The quote-heavy, name-dropping style of fellow essayist Henri Loyrette seems less attuned to a general reader's interests. But the book's most grievous sin is one of omission: the failure to include even the briefest biographical outline of Manet's life and work. --Cathy Curtis Book Description
Of all the paintings by the Impressionist master Edouard Manet, nearly one-fifth are still lifes, a genre the artist himself considered “the touchstone of painting.” This sumptuous volume, published to accompany a landmark exhibition at the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore and at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, is the first major book to focus on this crucial aspect of Manet's work.

Throughout his career, and especially later in his life, Manet devoted considerable energy to still lifes, producing oils, watercolors, and prints that unite exuberant personal expression with a flawless mastery of light and detail. With informative text, including an enlightening essay by Henri Loyrette, director of the Musée d'Orsay, Manet: The Still-Life Paintings features lush, full-page colorplates as well as full-bleed details of what some critics consider the finest examples of still-life painting ever executed.

The exhibition this book accompanies has been organized by the American Federation of Arts and the Réunion des Musées Nationaux/Musée d'Orsay, Paris. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Good overview of Manet's still-flife paintings
This book is certainly among the best overviews of Manet's still-life paintings. If you enjoy direct, descriptive paintings with rich color, this book is likely to interest you. I especially liked seeing the "unfinished" basket of pears on page 107 (the kind of work usually left out of such books), which gave me a good idea of how Manet approached his still-lifes of this period. By the way, overall, the reproductions are very good (of course, paintings are never as good in print as in real life).

Great Exhibition, Disappointing Catalogue
I journeyed to the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore to see the exhibition. "MANET - The Still Life Paintings" which is on view until April 22, 2001. The show was previously at the Musee d'Orsay in Paris.It is a lovely, intimate show.The majority of these gorgeous still lifes of fruits, vegetables and flowers were painted in the last three years of Manet's life. Unfortunately, the catalogue does not begin to do these beautful oil paintings and watercolors justice.The book's colorplates are of unsatisfactory quality and fail to capture the sumptuousness of these touching works of art.The book measures just shy of 9 inches by 9 inches, too small to get any partial enjoyment after seeing the exhibition. The text does not advance art scholarship. Not worth the price.

Small but magnificent book
The beautifully reproduced paintings. with some detail shots, in this potent package remind us that Manet truly is the 'father of modernism.' The still lifes of fruit alone would make this book a must have for any art book lover. His peaches, lemons, strawberries and plums are so full of longing, sadness, bliss and sheer beauty that they stop you in your tracks. I don't know how else to say it: Manet was an artist of cosmic proportions. The transcenant nature of the work juxtaposed against the audacious technique rightfully set Manet at the forefront of the western cannon. ... Read more