The Birth of Impressionism is the catalogue for the show of the same name on view at the de Young Museum until September 6th. Exhibit catalogues can be an iffy proposition. Some are just expensive picture books, others have pedantic essays, but this one strikes the right balance–interesting essays interspersed with the relevant pictures. Even without visiting the exhibit, this book is a worthwhile exploration of the roots of modern art.
It can be difficult for some to understand what was truly revolutionary about Impressionism. Looking back from Pop Art to Abstract Expressionism to Surrealism, by the time our eyes land on Impressionism, what’s the big deal? The Birth of Impressionism grounds the reader in the 1860s art world describing the Salon monopoly and the popular art of the time. The first section includes four essays on the accepted art of the time: realism, soft porn nudity sold as classicism, grand history painting, and Orientalism.
The catalogue and the show set up Manet as the turning point from the conservative art to modern art. The essay entitled “Manet: Innovation and Innovation” nails his pivotal role as an artist who wanted to succeed in the Salon world but opened the door to displaying modern life in a manner that loosened the restrictions of formal painting. The catalogue doesn’t limit itself to the paintings in the exhibition. Especially with Manet, it is important to show his development with such works as “Luncheon in the Grass,” “Olympia,” and “The Dead Toreador” none of which are in the show but the book discusses in the context of his career. The third section of the catalogue, entitled Impressionism and the New Painting shows how he was the leader of loosely knit group of artists who discussed a different way of making art, but each with his own style. The Impressionists weren’t a disciplined group with one set manifesto and style, they were artists united in their willingness to break outside of the bounds of Salon painting.
Woven in with the revolution in art, the catalogue portrays the importance of the Franco-Prussian War, the Paris Commune, and the bloody week of May 1871. The essay “The Terrible Year” puts the pictures relating to these events in context. The works discussed, Meissonier’s ‘The Siege of Paris” or Chavannes “The Pigeon” and “The Balloon”, aren’t technically precursors of Impressionism, but they document events that turned the society the artists lived in upside down. It’s this upheaval that helped wear down the resistance to ‘New Painting.’
My primary criticism would be how little attention was given to Degas, while not my favorite Impressionist, I would have given him more importance in the catalogue and the exhibit. But then again, the catalogue is about the birth of an art movement and to accurately document that, the reader needs to know what the movement is coming from and who bore the birth pains, all of which the catalogue effectively accomplishes with gorgeous reproductions.
On a side note, I was pleased to see that the bulk of the catalogue was translated by Alison Anderson, a translator I interviewed last year. This is the third book I have read and reviewed for the Art History Challenge.
Tags: art history essays, essays about Musee d'Orsay art, french translation art history, Impressionism art, impressionism essays
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