Impressionism: Origins, Practice, Reception (World of Art) [Paperback]

Belinda Thomson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 30, 2000 | Series: World of Art

The revolutionary nature of Impressionism emerged from anarchism and political radicalism, from a belief in science and individualism, creating a view of art true to modern life and to immediate visual perception. The author illuminates the thinking and personal lives of the Impressionists, including Pissarro, Monet and Renoir.

Editorial Reviews

Review

[A]n art-historical tour de force.... It really is top notch and a pleasure to read. -- Linda Nochlin, author of Women, Art, and Power

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Thames & Hudson (October 30, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0500203350
• ISBN-13: 978-0500203354
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #538,539 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perhaps the best brief introduction to Impressionism, June 29, 2003

By 

Robert Moore (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Impressionism: Origins, Practice, Reception (World of Art) (Paperback)

Belinda Thomson's contribution to the Thames & Hudson World of Art series is one of the best that I have encountered yet. One of the things that I most like about this series is the way that they have attempted over time to introduce new volumes are subjects that have more or less been covered before in order to provide a new treatment of the subject in attune with the latest critical scholarship. While some older World of Art titles touching upon the Impressionists preceded the period of influence and work of scholars like T. J. Clark, Robert L. Herbert, Ruth Berson, Patricia Mainardi, and many other contemporary art critics, Thomson carries out a complete reevaluation of the work of the Impressionists by pulling on the work of the recent scholarship. As a result, I believe that this volume is now the finest short introduction to the Impressionists now in print. It doesn't supercede larger, more in depth studies like Herbert's IMPRESSIONISM: ART, LEISURE, AND PARISIAN SOCIETY or John Rewald's older, almost encyclopedic history, but anyone wanting to gain an overview of Impressionism is unlikely to find a better brief study.

Although Thomson discusses many of the lesser Impressionists as well, she concentrates on a relatively small number of central figures, some who have only recently begun to receive the degree of attention that they deserve. She deals with Manet (and Bazille) as the crucial precursor and early collaborators, and then focuses on Monet, Degas, Renoir, Morisot, Sisley, Pissaro, Caillebotte, Cassatt, Gaugin, Fatin-Latour, and Guillaumin, and also Cézanne, whose relationship with the group was less clear. Each chapter tends to deal with most or all of these figures. These chapters she arranges around specific topics and themes. Thus, her study is driven more by ideas and themes than by chronology or biography, though neither of these elements is entirely missing. I found this thematic approach to be extremely effective, and some of the chapters shed a great deal of new light upon the Impressionists for me. For instance, I especially profited from the discussion of what light the marriages of the various Impressionists shed upon their social assumptions and their art. She also does a splendid job throughout of explaining the connection between their audiences, the avenues available to them for displaying their work, and the role of the art dealers in making their works available to the buying public.

A book of this size will of necessity have limitations placed upon it. Thomson has chosen to focus more upon the larger context of the work of the Impressionists, and has perhaps less discussion of specific works of art than other books on the subject. Some may find this a weakness, but in my opinion most of the other books have neglected context for discussion of specific paintings. Thus, sometimes a mildly ahistorical (in some cases a profoundly ahistorical) approach is taken. I loved the very concrete picture of the Impressionists' world that Thomson draws.

In short, one can hardly hope for a better introduction to the Impressionists than this one. I should mention one further improvement Thames and Hudson has been making in its most recent additions to the series: a greatly increased use of color reproduction. In the past, a few illustrations would be in color, but most would be in black and white. Now, over half of the illustrations are in color.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Written by a scholar for fellow scholars, August 11, 2004

By 

SandyBeach (Honolulu, Hawaii) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Impressionism: Origins, Practice, Reception (World of Art) (Paperback)

I guess I'm the only reviewer who is annoyed by the writing style featured in this book. The relevant facts and concepts could have been presented with so much more concision. I found the book to be a bit of a slog. Much of the material does not seem to stay on point. It reads rather like a PhD thesis, with the author intent upon demonstrating her complete breadth and depth of knowledge, rather than like a book intended for general readership. That is to say, not much thought was given to the narrative aspect. The author had quite a challenge to meet, in that the French impressionist painters were visually chronicling tumultous changes throughout every aspect of French society in the 1870s and 1880s. Nevertheless, the artfulness of a literary work can sometimes be enhanced as much by what is left out, as by what is included. There is much useful information in this book, but it could benefit from a skillful editing.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book, March 20, 2001

By 

Michael P. Maley "Michael" (Houston, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Impressionism: Origins, Practice, Reception (World of Art) (Paperback)

An even-handed, well-written, and detailed account of Impressionism. I liked that the author places Impressionism in its political, historical, and sociological context.