Paris in Ruins
Love, War, and the Birth of Impressionism
by Sebastian Smee
Narrated by Julian Elfer
This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.
Buy on Kobo
Buy on Libro.fm
*This page contains affiliate links, so we may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through links on our site at no additional cost to you.
Send NetGalley books directly to your Kindle or Kindle app
1
To read on a Kindle or Kindle app, please add kindle@netgalley.com as an approved email address to receive files in your Amazon account. Click here for step-by-step instructions.
2
Also find your Kindle email address within your Amazon account, and enter it here.
Pub Date Sep 10 2024 | Archive Date Sep 17 2024
Talking about this book? Use #ParisinRuins #NetGalley. More hashtag tips!
Description
From the summer of 1870 to the spring of 1871, famously dubbed the "Terrible Year" by Victor Hugo, Paris and its people were besieged, starved, and forced into surrender by Germans-then imperiled again as radical republicans established a breakaway Commune, ultimately crushed by the French Army after bloody street battles and the burning of central Paris.
In stirring and exceptionally vivid prose, Sebastian Smee tells the story of those dramatic days through the eyes of great figures of Impressionism. Édouard Manet, Berthe Morisot, and Edgar Degas were trapped in Paris during the siege and deeply enmeshed in its politics. Others, including Pierre-August Renoir, joined regiments outside of the capital, while Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro fled the country just in time. In the aftermath, these artists developed a newfound sense of the fragility of life. That feeling for transience-reflected in Impressionism's emphasis on fugitive light, shifting seasons, glimpsed street scenes, and the impermanence of all things-became the movement's great contribution to the history of art.
Incisive and absorbing, Paris in Ruins captures the shifting passions and politics of the art world, revealing how the siege and the chaos of the Commune had a profound impact on modern art, and how artistic genius can emerge from darkness and catastrophe.
A Note From the Publisher
A Boston Globe 20 Books We Can’t Wait to Read This Fall
A Next Big Idea Club Must-Read Book for September 2024
A Next Big Idea Club Must-Read Book for September 2024
A Boston Globe 20 Books We Can’t Wait to Read This Fall
A Next Big Idea Club Must-Read Book for September 2024
Advance Praise
"The book well could change the way you think about Impressionism, and it might alter your perception of art history." ―Simon Caterson, Sydney Morning Herald
"Sebastian Smee explodes a tired chestnut about the Impressionists: that their works are merely pretty. Like a restorer scraping off layers of grime and dust, he restores color and nuance and light, and performs the vital critical task of forcing us to look better and deeper at things we thought we already knew." ―Benjamin Moser, author of Sontag
Available Editions
EDITION | Audiobook, Unabridged |
ISBN | 9798855578027 |
PRICE | $24.99 (USD) |
DURATION | 12 Hours, 5 Minutes |
Available on NetGalley
NetGalley Shelf App (AUDIO)
Readers who liked this book also liked:
Mad Honey: A GMA Book Club Pick
Jodi Picoult; Jennifer Finney Boylan
General Fiction (Adult), Literary Fiction, Women's Fiction
Jodi Picoult; Jennifer Finney Boylan
General Fiction (Adult), Literary Fiction, Women's Fiction
The First and Last King of Haiti
Marlene L. Daut
Biographies & Memoirs, History, Multicultural Interest
Marlene L. Daut
Biographies & Memoirs, History, Multicultural Interest