Monet in the 20th Century
Category: Books,Arts & Photography,History & Criticism
Monet in the 20th Century Details
Amazon.com Review After the scores of beautiful Monet books that have been published over the last two decades, it is hard to imagine that a new one could be indispensable. But this volume, the catalog of an exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston (fall 1998, then travels to the Royal Academy of Arts in London) is more than just lovely. The main essay, by Paul Hayes Tucker, is a spellbinding history that ably places Monet and his late works in the context of the shattering political upheavals of his time. Tucker demonstrates the patriotic ideal of La France, which for Monet and his public was the ur-subject of his entire oeuvre up to the end of the 19th century, from the crashing waves at Étretat to the shimmering facades of Chartres. Then came the Dreyfus affair, with the Catholic Church and French conservatives united in an anti-Semitic attack against the innocent Jewish army captain accused of treason. Monet passionately and actively joined the writer Émile Zola, who was arrested for defending Dreyfus in his famous article, "J'Accuse." Tucker traces the rift in Monet's use of imagery from this time forward, as he turns his back on quintessentially French scenes to focus instead on the closely observed gardens in his own back yard. Tucker also subtly evokes Monet's despair during the long years of World War I, and his often heroic efforts to be of use, despite his age. This sumptuous volume, with its 12 fold-out plates of the Water Lilies, is very, very beautiful, but its story of an aging artist deeply engaged in his art and his times is something even better. --Peggy Moorman Read more From Library Journal This catalog for a show at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, which is traveling to the Royal Academy in London, is the first to consider Monet as a 20th-century artist. In four focused, critical essays by specialists, it chronicles the still-powerful older painter, who was not involved with formulae but with seeing and redefining 19th-century art with experience, color, feeling, refraction, and multiplicity while freeing painting from perspective and spatial observation. His work later influenced American abstract expressionists and color field artists of the mid-20th century. The second part of the book contains resplendent full-color reproductions, including 12 four-page foldouts of the water lily murals, hinting at their huge scale. Tucker (art, Univ. of Massachusetts, Boston), who authored Claude Monet: Life and Art (Yale Univ., 1995), has made a thought-provoking and important contribution. Highly recommended for special, academic, and public collections.?Ellen Bates, New YorkCopyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. Read more
Reviews
Very beautiful cover.I haven’t yet looked inside.