Impressionist Cats and Dogs: Pets in the Painting of Modern Life [Hardcover]

James H. Rubin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2003

Many Impressionist paintings of modern life and leisure include images of household pets. Their appealing presence lends charm to such works while alluding to middle-class prosperity and the growing importance of animals as family members. In many cases, such domestic denizens significantly complement representations of their owners. In certain others, the devotion of individual artists to their pets symbolically enhances their expressions of artistic identity. This book focuses on the role of pets in Impressionist pictures and what this reveals about the art, artists, and society of that era. James Rubin discusses works in which artists paint themselves or their friends in the company of their pets, including several paintings by Courbet (who was fond of dogs) and Manet (a notorious lover of cats). He points out that in some works by Degas, dogs contribute to the artist's commentary on psychological and social relationships, and that in paintings by Renoir, dogs and cats have playful and erotic overtones. He also offers a theory to explain why Monet almost never painted pets. Drawing on early pet handbooks and treatises on animal intelligence, Rubin explores 19th-century opinions on cats and dogs and compares handbook illustrations with the animals shown in Impressionist works. He also provides information on pet ownership and on the place of Impressionism in the long history of animal painting.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Impressionism was revolutionary, and impressionist artists purposefully portrayed animals as symbols of their dissent. Cats and dogs stood for sexuality, independence, loyalty, and the artists' self-image, and Rubin's lavishly illustrated volume explores exactly "how pets in art reveal artists' attitudes not just toward animals, but toward the people they painted, including themselves in their identities as artists." Beginning with a brief overview of the symbolic meanings of pets in ancient Egyptian, medieval, and modern art, Rubin quickly focuses on impressionist works and the symbolic and realistic roles animals played in such noteworthy paintings as Manet's rebelliously sensual Olympia and its opposite, Renoir's Madame Charpentier and Her Children, which celebrates the natural place pets played in the rise of the middle classes. Rubin also discusses pets in the paintings of Monet, Caillebotte, Seurat, Cezanne, and Courbet, whose cat in The Studio of the Painter embodies the artist's determination to retain his artistic independence. An unprecedented, revealing, and enjoyable new angle on a much examined movement. Lauren Roberts
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"Lovers of art and animals will treasure this delightfully written, amply illustrated book . . . deepen[s] the appreciation of pets and art." -- Cat Fancy

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 156 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (November 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300098731
• ISBN-13: 978-0300098730
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 9.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,004,606 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful!, March 26, 2008

By 

Jodi-Hummingbird - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

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This review is from: Impressionist Cats and Dogs: Pets in the Painting of Modern Life (Hardcover)

A beautiful big book, although it was 'try to spot the animal' in some of the paintings, they were so small!

4.0 out of 5 stars Impressionist Cats and Dogs, October 12, 2010

By 

Rosanne Cleveland-King "Book Lover" (Richmond, KY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Impressionist Cats and Dogs: Pets in the Painting of Modern Life (Hardcover)

A lovely book, with many beautiful color photos and black and white sketches. I'd say that some are frameable as they are a nice size. This book is larger than normal size, coffee table size at least. Paintings by Renoir, Manet, Degas and many other famous artists.