By Ingo F. Walther
It was a dappled and daubed harbor scene that gave Impressionism its name. When Impression, Sunrise by Claude Monet was exhibited in April 1874, critics seized upon the work’s title and its loose stylistic rendering of light and motion upon water to deride this new, impressionistic tendency in art.
Today, Impressionism is close contender for the world’s favorite period of painting. With blockbuster exhibitions, record-breaking auction prices, and packed museums, the works once dismissed as unfinished or imprecise are now beloved for their atmospheric evocation of time and place, as well as the stylistic flair of rapid brushstrokes upon canvas.
Despite its popularity and a whole host of publications, many areas and artists of Impressionism remain inadequately researched. This book fills the gap, raising the profile of unjustly neglected pioneers such as Berthe Morisot, Lucien Pissarro, and Gustave Caillebotte, while exploring the characteristics of Impressionism, from painting en plein air to vivid color contrasts, not only in the movement’s native France but also across the rest of Europe and North America.
Sized at 5.8 x 8 x 0.7 inches, this compact format is anything but skimpy. Hard bound with jacket and well over 500 pages, the books in Taschen's Bibliotheca Universalis series are a great value for the book collector looking to curate a rich library of art.
Hardcover with jacket, 784 pages
“The definitive guide to the Impressionist movement.” — The Good Book Guide, London
