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The Judgment of Paris

The Revolutionary Decade That Gave the World Impressionism

By Ross King

(3)

| Hardcover | 9780802714664

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Book Description

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 FrenchContinue

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.

Critics

  • French Revolution

    The decade of 1864-74 was a bloody one in France, witnessing the Franco-Prussian War, the siege of Paris and the short-lived popular uprising known as the Commune. But in these years French painting took a domestic turn, away from historic battles an ... (read full critics)

    nytimes published on Fri, 17 Sep 2010

  • The Judgment of Paris By Ross King

    From 1863 to 1874, Room M, the infamous gallery in the annual, government-sponsored Paris Salon (the Exhibition of Living Artists ), was a testing ground. It saw many a melee, showcasing (alphabetically) the dramatically opposed works of celebrated c ... (read full critics)

    bookpage published on Thu, 16 Sep 2010

1 Review

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  • Ross King describes the development of impressionism by juxtaposing the reception of Eduard Manet against the more classical Ernest Meissonier. He does so in meticulous detail, making the book a tad tedious here and there for the general interest reader.

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    Hermes said on Sep 25, 2008 | Add your feedback

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9780802714664 Hardcover $28.00 $23.94 bn.com
$28.00 $32.39 The Book Depository
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