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The Judgment of Paris: The Revolutionary Decade That Gave the World Impressionism

Ross King

Start date: October 1, 2011

Finish date: October 31, 2011

Discussion: Monthly Book Challenge

Discussion leader: Ed Smiley

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What Members Thought

Jan 19, 2011 AC rated it it was amazing

Shelves: art, 19th-century, modernism, louis-napoleon, france

This review MAY contain a spoiler -- I'm not sure..., it's hard for me to tell….

(It has taken me quite a while to write this review -- I wasn't sure why…. I thought maybe I was just being busy, or just being lazy…; but I think the reason is deeper than that.... Anyway, this is what I originally wrote, and didn't post, when I finished the book:)

This was the perfect book for me. I knew just enough to profit from this informed and intelligent review of the roots of Impressionism and this fascinatin ...more

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Sep 07, 2009 Susanna - Censored by GoodReads rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: art-history, history, france, book-club

Very interesting study of the French art scene in the 1860s and 1870s, and also a requiem for the Second Empire. The stars of the show, however, are two artists at opposite poles from each other: Edouard Manet and Ernest Meissonier. Meissonier, for those who haven't heard of him (which would include me when I started this book), was one of the most famous artists in France in the mid-19th century, and the best-paid. Manet, on the other hand, was the art scene's pariah/joke. ...more

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Dec 15, 2011 Hotavio rated it really liked it

Shelves: books-on-france, books-on-art

Here Ross King concerns himself with the French art world leading up to the dawn of Impressionism. The book reads as easily as a fictional narrative in that it follows the seemingly disparate careers of Ernest Meissonier and Edouard Manet. The 2 artists could hardly be comparable. Yet, King's selection of the artists resembles two oppositional ages in a France that experiences one cataclysm after another. King adeptly introduces other equally intriguing personalities from all aspects of society, ...more

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Aug 19, 2010 Jose rated it it was amazing

The Paris Salon was the ultimate tribunal where French Art was judged during the 1800's. Thousands of artists submitted paintings, sculptures and other forms of art every year in hopes of being accepted.Being chosen or not could break or make an artists' career quite literally. Over the decades, the tribunal that selected the works had become a self-perpetuating institution with sclerotized ideas of what constituted Art- both in regards to content ( mostly mythological, classical or historical g The Paris Salon was the ultimate tribunal where French Art was judged during the 1800's. Thousands of artists submitted paintings, sculptures and other forms of art every year in hopes of being accepted.Being chosen or not could break or make an artists' career quite literally. Over the decades, the tribunal that selected the works had become a self-perpetuating institution with sclerotized ideas of what constituted Art- both in regards to content ( mostly mythological, classical or historical grand scenes with some sort of moral) and style (no trace of brush strokes and soft chiaroscuro transitions).

In 1863, driven by the outrage that resulted from the rules imposed by the Count of Nieuekerke and which resulted in controversial refusals, Napoleon III ordered the opening of the Salon des Refuses: an exhibition that was to display many of the works refused by the official Salon. Napoleon III knew how to distract the population from his dictatorial government after all.

This book follows the fortunes of two painters that were deeply involved in the Salon controversy: Meissionier, a very succesful painter of excruciating detail and accuracy; and Manet, a representative of a more direct and modern style.
In a very accessible style that flows quite well, the book delves into the state of French Art of the nineteenth century. The panorama that emerges is a lot more nuanced than what we normally understand by the rivalry between impressionism and classicism, the mere confrontation between the "new" and the "old" which ends in 1874 with the Impressionists Exhibition. The author reveals that Manet, for example, used very classical models (Titian, Tintoretto) for his first paintings. Also, Manet valued the Salon and kept presenting his paintings to be juried year after year, even after becoming the hero of many an impressionist. Meissioner on the other hand struggled to create a modern vision as well despite the fact that his enormous success stemmed from his anachronistic and greatly detailed canvases of a somewhat dutch inspiration.

The cast of characters that surrounds these two masters is the subject of much literature: Courbet, Baudelaire, Whistler, Monet, Zola, Fantin-laTour, Ingres, Degas, Bougereau and the "pompier" painters, an endless row of royals, politcians, gallerists and collectors. "The Judgment of Paris" does a phenomenal job of integrating all these pieces in a coherent narrative.

I particularly enjoyed the glimpses into the lives of the painters, how young some of them were when they created some of their work, how poor or rich or inbetween some were, how they debated with their own place in time and art, how some died young and how some fought, escaped or resisted the Franco_Prussian war, the siege of Paris and The Commune. I thought it was fascinating and far form the "finished" product and narrow portrait of self-determination most biographers produce.

For anybody interested in art and history, the book is well documented and seamless. Not just a collection of facts in search of a story but a good narration.If you are a painter, this is a must read and the only thing you will regret is the time you won't be painting waiting to put it down. ...more

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Apr 10, 2015 Sharon Robinson rated it liked it

Shelves: art-general

I started this book because of an art discussion group, starting out with low expectations. In fact it looked terribly boring. Imagine my surprise when I found myself enjoying it. I most enjoyed learning more about an historical era of France through the eyes of the artists. I've never cared all that much for Manet's work, but it was very interesting to place him in context with the (other) impressionists.
I highly recommend reading with an art app or at least Google images near at hand. You will ...more

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