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Reviews (3)

A Beautiful Little Book
A wonderful yet small collection of reproductions of Manet's last works. A very great artist, at the end of his days, paints exquisite small works of flowers. What else could you want?

Manet's last works are simply perfect!
As an art student studying the techniques of the masters, this little book has been invaluable to me. This is for anyone who seriously wants to experience Manet's genius. His little florals leap off the page! The printing is good, too. Faithfully shows detail and tone well. While nothing replaces seeing these works in person, this book is one every artist should have.

Breathtaking Mastery
During the last months of 1882 Edouard Manet was gravely ill. This was to be the last year of his life. He no longer had the strengh for large ambitious work. With frequent rest periods, he had just completed "A Bar at the Folies-Bergere."

Due to his ebbing energy he began to paint on a smaller scale, simple bouquets of flowers in a variety of glass vases. Often these were the flowers friends brought to the convalescing artist.

"The Last Flowers of Manet" is a little gem of a book presenting 16 of these elegant, magical paintings. There are ethereal white lilac blossoms and slashes of pink peony petals shimmering before rich, black backgrounds. There are roses and tulips in warm, golden shades.

Just as Matisse in his last days could not make a false stroke when creating his cutout compositions, so Manet brings total mastery to these exquisite, soulful still lifes. ... Read more

Amazon.com

The French artist Édouard Manet was delighted when a client who purchased his painting of a bunch of asparagus paid more than the asking price. So he sent a special thank-you--a tiny image of a single pale spear of the prized vegetable. These and other lushly painted still lifes of flowers, fruits, and other foodstuffs, isolated or in groups, form one of the most beguiling aspects of Manet's output from the 1860s through the early '80s. Manet: The Still-Life Paintings, the catalog for the exhibition at the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore, Maryland, through April 22, 2001, serves as a pleasant introduction to the intimate late work of the great 19th-century realist. With 106 color reproductions, including close-up details of brushwork, the modestly scaled volume makes for a satisfying browse. The most deliciously unexpected treats are the luminous watercolors of fruit, nuts, or flowers that Manet interwove with his personal correspondence.

Earlier in Manet's career, still-life images played a supporting role in figure paintings. Author George Mauner, professor emeritus of art history at Pennsylvania State University, guides the reader to observe such details as the cherry falling in midair in Young Man w ith Cherries. This fascination with instantaneous effects would culminate 11 years later in the smoking rifles of the Mexican troops in The Execution of Emperor Maximilian. Manet, of course, was well aware of the tradition of still life as an invocation of the senses and as a reminder of the fleeting nature of sensual pleasure (and life itself). Mauner explains how this art-historical knowledge offers clues to some of the artist's more enigmatic paintings. The quote-heavy, name-dropping style of fellow essayist Henri Loyrette seems less attuned to a general reader's interests. But the book's most grievous sin is one of omission: the failure to include even the briefest biographical outline of Manet's life and work. --Cathy Curtis ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Great Exhibition, Disappointing Catalogue
I journeyed to the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore to see the exhibition. "MANET - The Still Life Paintings" which is on view until April 22, 2001. The show was previously at the Musee d'Orsay in Paris. It is a lovely, intimate show. The majority of these gorgeous still lifes of fruits, vegetables and flowers were painted in the last three years of Manet's life. Unfortunately, the catalogue does not begin to do these beautful oil paintings and watercolors justice. The book's colorplates are of unsatisfactory quality and fail to capture the sumptuousness of these touching works of art. The book measures just shy of 9 inches by 9 inches, too small to get any partial enjoyment after seeing the exhibition. The text does not advance art scholarship. Not worth the price.

Small but magnificent book
The beautifully reproduced paintings. with some detail shots, in this potent package remind us that Manet truly is the 'father of modernism.' The still lifes of fruit alone would make this book a must have for any art book lover. His peaches, lemons, strawberries and plums are so full of longing, sadness, bliss and sheer beauty that they stop you in your tracks. I don't know how else to say it: Manet was an artist of cosmic proportions. The transcenant nature of the work juxtaposed against the audacious technique rightfully set Manet at the forefront of the western cannon. ... Read more

Book Description

Manet, a founding father of modernism, is one of the towering figures of nineteenth-century art. In this absorbing book, Carol Armstrong looks closely at Manet's works to uncover a novel and compelling view not only of the artist but also of modernity itself. As she places his art within frameworks of color, the feminine Other (the "Manette" in "Manet"), and consumerism, Armstrong greatly expands and revises our understanding of this artist as a painter of modern life.

Surveying most of Manet's diverse output, the book addresses along the way his methods of self-presentation, his exhibition strategies, the relation of his etchings and paintings, the significance of his relationships with the model Victorine Meurent and the painter Berthe Morisot, the painterly construction of identity and gender difference, and much more. At the same time, the book considers contemporary writings by Baudelaire, Zola, the Goncourts, and others who dealt with issues relating to artistic identity and modernity, painting, the model, and femininity. Armstrong concludes that Manet's work demonstrates consistent preoccupations with defining and contradicting his own signature style of painting and with the gendering of costume, color, and the making of his art. These preoccupations, she shows, suggest a new understanding of Manet's oeuvre. ... Read more

Book Description

Eunice Lipton was a fledging art historian when she first became intrigued by Victorine Meurent, the nineteenth-century model who appeared in Edouard Manet's most famous paintings, only to vanish from history in a haze of degrading hearsay. But had this bold and spirited beauty really descended into prostitution, drunkenness, and early death--or did her life, hidden from history, take a different course altogether? Eunice Lipton's search for the answer combines the suspense of a detective story with the revelatory power of art, peeling off layers of lies to reveal startling truths about Victorine Meurent--and about Lipton herself. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Very Disappointing
Being an avid admirer of Manet and of the paintings in which Victorine Meurent appeared, I was happy to see a book about her. Finally, I would be able to learn something of her and her life! I learned that she was a Lesbian and died in 1927 and not as a destitute alcoholic as written in some rather sketchy histories of her. but that is all I learned. The book is actually more about the author and her trying to make peace with her past and her mother than anything else. If you want to learn about Victorine, you must find another book. If you want to know about Eunice Lipton, this is the book for you. Also very few facts in the book; the author puts Victorine in some situations and conversations, but these are all imaginary. Definitely would not recommend. Author was self-indulgent and apparently not very concerned with her subject.

Dissapointing
Lipton seems reluctant to deal with the facts she can recover. Instead, she prefers to create a fiction which is more of a projection of her own neurosis than anything which is supported by her sources. All the primary sources agree that Victorine Meurent was a destitute alcoholic for some time before she dies, but Lipton prefers to imagine her as a proto-feminist heroine. She seems so blinded by her own prejudice that she can only lash out at anyone who presents her with information which paints Victorine in less than favorable colors. For a more balanced view of the same material, find a copy of Otto Freiderich's Olympia: Manet and the Paris of his Times.

An inspiring story with a reward at the end.
This book is more autobiography than the "art history mystery" I had expected, but it's an engaging story, and well worth reading. When the missing diary, or some such document, which will tell all about the real life story of Victorine Muerant fails to materialize, a fictional version is inserted in chapters. I was dissappointed by this because it gives more weight to the story Ms Lipton invented and hoped to prove, than to the facts she worked so hard to reveal. The research is tedious and discouraging, and the results will not rock the art history world. The true reward for the author is not the tidbits of information she aquires about her subject, but in her own growth both as a blossoming writer and a woman. Her finest writing is in the descriptions of the things she knows best and experiences first-hand: the great food in Paris, her past life, her present feelings, her beliefs and self-realization. It's encouraging that Ms Lipton has chosen now to be a writer, and not an art historian, and I will look forward to her next effort.

A book that makes you want to give up and start living!
Alias Olympia is a personal biography of Eunice Lipton's search for Victorine Meurent, the woman who modled for Manet's Olympia. Not only does this book inspire one to go out and look for the truth they believe in their heart to be true, but it also provides hope for those who believe that one person can still make a difference. Lipton's journey through history provides a longing yet frustrating ride through a world geared souly for men. By the end of this book I was in love and I wanted to spit at the same time. It is motivating; a look at the purpose of our lives and how we may be fulfilled. With this book in hand I feel like I could set out and discover anything I set my mind to. ... Read more

Book Description

Edouard Manet was one of the first artists who can truly be called "modern," combining a highly individual and fresh vision with tremendous technical virtuosity. Together with the sumptuous color plates, the text by Manet specialist Pierre Courthion offers an unforgettable view of the glories of this artist's work. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A flawed history of a fascinating time.
Paris during the reign of Louis Napoleon was a fascinating period, and its figures were larger than life: Napoleon, Eugenie, Berlioz, Wagner, Hugo, Zola, Manet, Monet and the "great horizontals". Americans, English, Germans, Italians and Russians went to Paris for culture, art and, let's face it, a little bit of sex. Unfortunately, this period needs a first-rate historian and Otto Friedrich is not that. You read "Olympia" in spite of the writer, as the history of a fascinating time and the men and women who made it great. ... Read more

Book Description

The Paris of the 1860s and 1870s was supposedly a brand-new city, equipped with boulevards, cafés, parks, and suburban pleasure grounds--the birthplace of those habits of commerce and leisure that constitute "modern life." Questioning those who view Impressionism solely in terms of artistic technique, T. J. Clark describes the painting of Manet, Degas, Seurat, and others as an attempt to give form to that modernity and seek out its typical representatives--be they bar-maids, boaters, prostitutes, sightseers, or petits bourgeois lunching on the grass. The central question of The Painting of Modern Life is this: did modern painting as it came into being celebrate the consumer-oriented culture of the Paris of Napoleon III, or open it to critical scrutiny? The revised edition of this classic book includes a new preface by the author. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

As perfect as the paintings he discusses?
As a student of nineteenth century French painting, I think this may in fact be the finest book ever written on Parisian painting in the time of Haussmanization. Clark manages to offer an intelligent Marxist-based claim about class and the emerging Parisian landscape in the 60's without losing sight of the paintings themselves. While most scholars feel the genius of this book lies in his wonderful discussion of "what couldn't be seen in Olympia", I find the first chapter "Environs of Paris" equally fascinating in its discussion of Manet's Exposition Universelle of 1867. A MUST read for any lover of Parisian history or Manet.

An Art History Book For Anyone Interested in History
I like to think of myself as a person who is curious about a wide range of things, especially in the realm of culture and the arts. Most art history books, however, put me right to sleep, with their endless catalogs of curatorial details about brushstrokes and paint textures and influences and provenance. These detailed analyses almost never situate the paintings in any sort of context and almost never explain WHY we should be interested in these details, other than to prove ourselves worthy connoiseurs to others in the know. Clark's book is a refreshing change from such mandarin drivel. Clark begins with a lengthy discussion of the social context of the paintings he is about to discuss and only then proceeds to extended analyses of particular paintings. Clark is interested in the larger ideas and trends of the period and, most important of all, actually USES the details of the paintings as evidence in the course of making an ARGUMENT about what the paintings mean (hint to other art historians: having an argument contributes significantly to the interest of a book or article). In addition, Clark's argument about the nature of the social changes occuring in France in the 1860's and 70's is compelling and thought-provoking (be forewarned: some Marxism is involved). I found myself actually learning things about the paintings Clark discusses, and looking at them over and over again, trying to find more in them, in much the same way as I would go back to a book or a poem after reading a good piece of literary criticism. I think this book will appeal to anyone who wants to learn more about either 19th-century French painting or 19th-century France. Clark is a stimulating and perceptive guide to this crucial period in the history of painting. Bravo! ... Read more

Book Description

Edouard Manet (1832-1883) was passionate about the sea. Before becoming a painter, he spent six months at sea, and, like many Europeans of his era, he took numerous seaside holidays. Manet made his public debut as a marine painter at the Paris Salon of 1864 with The Battle of the U.S.S. "Kearsarge" and the C.S.S. "Alabama," his dramatic depiction of a U.S. Civil War naval battle off the coast of France, and he continued to paint seascapes throughout his career. These extraordinary works clearly reflect his intimate knowledge of and love for maritime vessels and the sea.Manet and the Sea is the first book to highlight the French master's beautiful and varied seascapes. Essays by leading scholars discuss how Manet completely overturned the established academic conventions of marine painting in France. His provocative approach was equal to that of his contemporary Gustave Courbet, and his bold and innovative techniques inspired many younger artists, including Claude Monet, Berthe Morisot, James McNeill Whistler, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Essays on these and other artists place their seascapes in relation to Manet's pictures.This handsomely illustrated and designed book presents over one hundred paintings and drawings in full color. Anyone interested in the sea, maritime painting, nineteenth-century French painting, and particularly the role Manet played in the Impressionist revolution, will find this an essential book to own. ... Read more

Book Description

Bradford Collins has assembled here a collection of twelve essays that demonstrates, through the interpretation of a single work of art, the abundance and complexity of methodological approaches now available to art historians. Focusing on Manet's A Bar at the Folies-Bergère, each contributor applies to it a different methodology, ranging from the more traditional to the newer, including feminism, Marxism, Lacanian psychoanalysis, and semiotics. By demonstrating the ways that individual practitioners actually apply the various methodological insights that inform their research, Twelve Views of Manet's "Bar" serves as an excellent introduction to critical methodology as well as a provocative overview for those already familiar with the current discourse of art history. In the process of gaining new insight into Manet's work, and into the discourse of methodology, one discovers that it is not only the individual painting but art history itself that is under investigation. An introduction by Richard Shiff sets the background with a brief history of Manet scholarship and suggestions as to why today's accounts have taken certain distinct directions. The contributors, selected to provide a broad and balanced range of methodological approaches, include: Carol Armstrong, Albert Boime, David Carrier, Kermit Champa, Bradford R. Collins, Michael Paul Driskel, Jack Flam, Tag Gronberg, James D. Herbert, John House, Steven Z. Levine, and Griselda Pollock. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Flee this Book
This is the sort of book that gives art history--especially the "new" art history--a black name. Most of the articles are written in deliberately inpenetrable prose, always hiding the the most inept questions and comments (i.e., "Did Manet really intend to paint the mirror that way?") Only Griselda Pollock's article shows any sign of intelligence. Another title for this book: "12 Ways to Kill any Interest in a Work of Art."

A Marvelous Example of the Many Approaches to Art History
This is one of those books that art history students should use to learn the complexity of the field and the many different approaches to art currently practiced by art historians. For lovers of Impressionism, this is one of the deepest and richest studies of a single work-- and what a work! Manet's BAR is one of the most mysterious and gripping works of western art, and it's hard to imagine a work more deserving of this deep treatment. ... Read more

Book Description

Edouard Manet's controversial painting "Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe" is one of the best known images in French art.The subject of critical analysis for more than a century, it still defies singular interpretations. These essays, written specially for this volume by the leading scholars of French modern art, therefore offer six different readings of the painting, incorporating close examinations of its radical style and novel subject, relevant historical developments and archival material, as well as biographical evidence that prompts psychological inquiries. ... Read more

Book Description