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Paris in Ruins: Love, War, and the Birth of Impressionism
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About This Book
The Pulitzer Prize–winning art critic's gripping account of the "Terrible Year" in Paris and its enormous impact on the rise of Impressionism. From the summer of 1870 to the spring of 1871, Paris and its people were forced into surrender by Germans and imperiled as rebel republicans established a breakaway Commune, ultimately crushed by the French army after the burning of central Paris. As Pulitzer Prize–winning art critic Sebastian Smee shows, it was against the backdrop of these tumultuous times that the Impressionist movement was born—a reaction to violence, civil war, and political intrigue. Smee tells the story of Paris's "Terrible Year" through the eyes of the Impressionists, with a focus on the relationship between Edouard Manet, the father of the movement, and Berthe Morisot, the group's preeminent woman. With narrative sweep and vivid detail, Paris in Ruins captures the shifting passions and politics of the art world, revealing how the pressures of the Siege and the chaos of the Commune had a monumental effect on the development of modern art.
Reviews
"A wide-ranging work of cultural history with a dual focus."
"Deft, vibrant cultural history."
"Smee has a tremendous knack for placing readers inside historical scenes, but can be hyperbolic and repetitive ..."
"Vibrant and incisive."
"Smee is especially good at depicting the hardships of Paris under Prussian siege."
"Smee has written an inspiring book."
"With exquisite sensitivity."
"He conveys a clear and compelling idea of the time that the radical young artists lived through and how it altered their vision and inspired them to move forward."
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