Meticulously researched snapshot of a pivotal social/cultural moment in France

books:


	• The Judgment of Paris: The Revolutionary Decade That Gave the World Impressionism Ross King Walker & Company, 2006 - 464 pages average customer review:based on 35 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Meticulously researched snapshot of a pivotal social/cultural moment in France

Author Ross King's "The Judgment of Paris" is a painstaking look at an interesting period in French history when a new political system was born and, more interestingly for the rest of the world, a new approach to art was set before a skeptical public. Both events were accompanied by enormous turbulence and resistance, but both have endured to this day.
The book's focus on two painters of the time--Ernest Meissonier and Edouard Manet--to chart the progress of change is arguably a little exclusive, but author Ross effectively argues that they are good choices as representatives of the spectrum of extremes present in the decade covered by the story. What was particularly interesting to me about this book were the details of the annual or biennial salons that were make or break for art and artists in the 19th Century. Ross has amassed some amazing details that clarify that process, but also make clear why impressionism finally flowered and flourished in such an important way.
"The Judgment of Paris" takes a bit of slogging through because of the denseness of its details, however the author's skill in pushing his story along makes for very interesting reading for anyone interested in art or 19th Century European history.

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one of the best books on 19th century French painting I have read

King uses the lives of two painters and a wonderfully detailed historical context to present the roots and further development of Impressionism. I hate to use the term for such a densely written book, but it is an easy read. In addition, it is a useful reference book. I have dipped back into it several times to refresh my understanding of certain artists.

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noithing changes in the art world

I loved this book. I just got back from Paris and I am an artist so I felt right at home reading about the art world in Paris over 100 years ago. Nothing changes much in the art world. In 2008 there are exhibitions with so many restrictions and rules, the art is lost in the Museum/gallery politics. The book reads like fiction, it is a bit over researched, but I do feel completley at home visiting the M room. Good job!

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Art history as MTV

My husband read this, and passed it along. While I finished the book, I found slightly infuriating: Chapters are short, occasionally the book reads like a guest list at a fancy party and nothing is treated in any kind of depth. To top it al off, there are too few reproductions of the art discussed. In all, a decent view into the rise of Impressionism but, not one with great soul.

Meissonier who?

King chronicles the careers of two French artists, Ernest Meissonier and Edouard Manet, during the late 19th century. Meissonier, the darling of the Paris Salon (the organization that could make or break an artist's career during that time), was the most famous and highest paid painter of the day. In contrast, Manet, heralded as the father of the Impressionist movement, struggled with constant rejection by the Salon as well as the critics. Manet's popularity came later in his career and following his death while Meissonier's work has since faded into obscurity. King gives a fascinating look at the politics and history of the turbulent time period. My only criticism: while the book provided some illustrations of the paintings, there could have been more. King went into great detail about the minute details of many paintings, which was wonderful when the painting was illustrated in the book, but a bit frustrating when it was not. All in all, a good read.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

While the Civil War raged in America, another very different revolution was beginning to take shape across the Atlantic, in the studios of Paris: The artists who would make Impressionism the most popular art form in history were showing their first paintings amidst scorn and derision from the French artistic establishment. Indeed, no artistic movement has ever been, at its inception, quite so controversial. The drama of its birth, played out on canvas, would at times resemble a battlefield; and, as Ross King reveals, Impressionism would reorder both history and culture as it resonated around the world.

The Judgment of Paris chronicles the dramatic decade between two famous exhibitions?the scandalous Salon des Refuses in 1863 and the first Impressionist showing in 1874?set against the rise and dramatic fall of Napoleon III and the Second Empire after the Franco-Prussian War. A tale of many artists, it revolves around the lives of two, described as ?the two poles of art??Ernest Meissonier, the most famous and successful painter of the 19th century, hailed for his precision and devotion to history; and Edouard Manet, reviled in his time, who nonetheless heralded the most radical change in the history of art since the Renaissance. Out of the fascinating story of their parallel lives, illuminated by their legendary supporters and critics?Zola, Delacroix, Courbet, Baudelaire, Whistler, Monet, Hugo, Degas, and many more?Ross King shows that their contest was not just about Art, it was about competing visions of a rapidly changing world.

With a novelist?s skill and the insight of an historian, King recalls a seminal period when Paris was the artistic center of the world, and a revolutionary movement had the power to electrify and divide a nation.

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