Cover Image

Impressionist quartet : the intimate genius of Manet and Morisot, Degas and Cassatt

by Meyers, Jeffrey.

Format: Print Book 2005
Availability: Available at 4 Libraries 4 of 4 copies
Links:
Contributor biographical information
Publisher description
Table of contents

Available (4)
Location Collection Call #
CLP - Main Library Second Floor - Non-fiction ND547.5.I4 M49 2005
Location  CLP - Main Library
 
Collection  Second Floor - Non-fiction
 
Call Number  ND547.5.I4 M49 2005
 
 
Monroeville Public Library Non-fiction 759.4 M
Location  Monroeville Public Library
 
Collection  Non-fiction
 
Call Number  759.4 M
 
 
Penn Hills Library Non-Fiction 759.4 MEY
Location  Penn Hills Library
 
Collection  Non-Fiction
 
Call Number  759.4 MEY
 
 
Shaler North Hills Library Non-Fiction 759.4 M
Location  Shaler North Hills Library
 
Collection  Non-Fiction
 
Call Number  759.4 M
 
 

Summary
Impressionist Quartet draws us into the inner lives of a core group of mid-nineteenth-century artists-Edouard Manet, Mary Cassatt, Edgar Degas, and Berthe Morisot-known, collectively, as the "Impressionists." Derided by critics, sneered at by contemporaries, their work sold for pittances. They were either marginalized or dismissed altogether by the French art establishment. And, to some degree, their iconic works have eclipsed them.

Portraying them as individuals and as fellow conspirators in a new way of seeing and representing the world, Jeffrey Meyers brings to life this most popular and influential group of painters in the entire history of art. The result is an accessible and wonderfully illuminating book that offers readers a fresh way of looking at these artists and the priceless, timeless masterpieces they created.
Published Reviews
Booklist Review: "The nineteenth-century rebel painters known as the impressionists, often reviled in their time, remain perennial art-world stars. Meyers, author of a formidable list of literary biographies of the likes of Hemingway, Orwell, and Lawrence, now considers four impressionists. Berthe Morisot and Mary Cassatt are often seen as lesser lights in their male-dominated world, but Meyers gives them their due in relation to the dapper Manet and the overlord Degas. They inspired, admired, taught, harangued, envied, loved, challenged, and competed with one another. Each developed a singular style in breaking with tradition. Each was lovable and unlovable in his or her own way. Meyers treats them singly and in pairs, and looks closely at many of their paintings to discuss creativity, politics, class, and sex as well as suppressed love and longing. Meyers' title hints at his musical structure: the book is less linear biography than four suites of essays, with themes and variations that often double back and revisit moments through each artist's experience. Risky, but mostly engaging. --Steve Paul Copyright 2005 Booklist"
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Publisher's Weekly Review: "The author of biographies of Joseph Conrad and Somerset Maugham, Meyers highlights here the intertwined lives of four Impressionist painters. Commencing with Edouard Manet (1832-1883), Meyers chronicles the artist's angst-ridden life as a bohemian and social rebel whose paintings were repeatedly rejected by the French art establishment. Berthe Morisot (1841-1895) is chiefly investigated in relation to Manet, with whom Meyers suggests she was romantically involved; she ultimately married Manet's brother (Manet was already married). Meyers's discussions of Morisot's paintings are engaging and unpretentious, as are his interpretations of all of the artists' works. The author pays more attention to Edgar Degas (1834-1917) than he does to American-born expat Mary Cassatt (1844-1926), whom he characterizes as a prickly, self-effacing woman with a formidable array of off-putting qualities who painted overly hygienic children. While Degas valued Cassatt as an artist and friend, Meyers says, he found her physically unappealing. As a glimpse into the context and dramas surrounding some of the world's most famous paintings, Meyers's book is lively and subjective, but not always entirely convincing. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved"
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Additional Information
Subjects Impressionist artists -- France -- Biography.
Impressionism (Art) -- France.
Painting, French -- 19th century.
Publisher Orlando :Harcourt,2005
Edition 1st ed.
Language English
Description xiv, 352 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Bibliography Notes Includes bibliographical references (pages 337-342) and index.
ISBN 0151010765
Links
Contributor biographical information
Publisher description
Table of contents
Other Classic View