The Judgment of Paris: The Revolutionary Decade That Gave the World Impressionism
Category: Books,Arts & Photography,History & Criticism
The Judgment of Paris: The Revolutionary Decade That Gave the World Impressionism Details
About the Author Ross King is the bestselling author of Brunelleschi's Dome: The Story of the Great Cathedral in Florence, Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling, The Judgment of Paris: The Revolutionary Decade That Gave the World Impressionism, Leonardo and The Last Supper, Mad Enchantment: Claude Monet and the Painting of the Water Lilies and others. His work has won the RBC Taylor Prize, and been nominated for a National Book Critics Circle Award, the Charles Taylor Prize, and the National Award for Arts Writing. He has lectured at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Smithsonian, the Aspen Institute, and the Frick Collection, and in Florence, Milan, Paris, and Giverny. He lives near Oxford with his wife, Melanie. Read more
Reviews
Ross King has given us an erudite tale of the art world as seen through a contest artists reminiscent of the original Judgment of Paris and with the same results. Meissonier, Manet, Corot, Cezanne, and a army of others are presented here in an epoch changing contest where the prize is not a golden apple but fame, money, respect and the right to define how their contemporary world will view art.Ross King is not presenting a simple history of art but a history of the world as it influenced the artists of the times.The legacy of Napoleon, Classicism, the Franco Prussian War, Hot Air Balloons, the American Civil War (yes that's right), steam engines, prostitution, censorship etc. among others all had their impact. However the most endearing aspect of this book is that it makes the gods of modernism very human. My favorite example is when Manet complains that Monet's pictures are placed is the same exhibition room as his and he is worried that people will not recognize the difference and is suspicious that Monet is attempting to cash in on Manet's notoriety. This is priceless and reminds me of a cartoon I saw once when a couple is going into a museum exhibit and one partner asks the other "Monet or Manet, I forget, which one are we supposed to like?") (New Yorker).This book is a breath of fresh air for those who have not acquainted themselves with this period history, myself, I found it quite a pleasant introduction. If you are intimidated by all of the minutia, I suggest that you take it a chapter at a time and even bounce from one chapter to another as suits you fancy.
