Impressionism

by Phoebe Pool

The Impressionists--Monet, Manet, Cezanne, Degas, Pissarro, and Renoir--are probably the most popular of all artistic schools. With imagination and insight, the author brings Impressionism into focus by showing it through the eyes of the artists and their contemporaries, using letters, critical reviews and reminiscences of the people who were part of the story. As we see in Bernard Denvir's compelling survey, the Impressionists had new ways of painting, but they also had a new world to paint: a world of stream tricycles, emergent photography, and modern ideas about perception. 195 illus., 17 in color.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, History, Reference, Art History

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1967

Reviews

[Mir · Rating 4 out of 5]

I expected this to be more boring, but I found myself thoroughly engaged in Pool's writing style. It's almost gossipy- yet still academic. It's also helpful that most of the paintings addressed in this book are featured in decent quality, some of them even in color (which is pretty crucial when talking about Impressionist works). I often find that art books with engaging writing lack enough visual imagery, or visa-versa. This was a happy blend.

[Sladjana Kovacevic · Rating 5 out of 5]

IMPRESSIONISM-PHOEBE POOL
✒"The art of the twentieth century, or for that matter the paintings Van Gogh and Gauguin, could not have been created, or even envisaged, without the prior discoveries of Impressionism."
🖌Istorija impresionizma od nastanka pokreta do postepenog pretapanja u druge pravce. Uticaji i slikari na koje su Impresionisti uticali. Druženje sa piscima,posebno sa Zolom. Veza književnosti i slikarstva.
🖌Mone,Mane,Sezan,Dega,Pisaro,Renoar,Bert Moriso,Meri Kasat,Gogen,Van Gog
🖌Mnoštvo reprodukcija i društveno istorijskih podataka. Sve što jedan ozbiljna studija treba da ima.
#7sensesofabook #knjige #bookstagram #literature #readingaddict

[J.M. Hushour · Rating 4 out of 5]

Impressionism is one of those art movements that I've never pretended to understand because no one has ever been able to explain it satisfactorily to me. This book breaks it down pretty simply. Impressionism can be reduced to a few uncomplicated ideas: paint what you see; paint in the open; plan nothing other than that you plan to paint; the subject is what you paint.
This is pretty neat when you think about it and if you approach it simply from these ideas, you can appreciate more what some of these guys (and Berisot, well, and maybe Cassatt) were trying to do.
Additionally, this book is as much about Impressionists like Monet, Renoir, and Pissarro, as it is about those who were "kind of" Impressionists like Renoir, Pissarro, and Manet. Many others are covered here, and there's a good deal of situating the painters in their time, which is key.

[Andrew Ives · Rating 5 out of 5]

I expected this to be an airy-fairy 'arty' book which waxes lyrical about paintings and styles without really saying anything, but it turned out much better than that. Pool writes very well indeed, in an academic style, and rarely using an easy word when a long word will do. For all that, this was never a stodgy read, often very interesting in the overlapping biographies of the artists/writers of the era. Yes, there are some necessarily airy-fairy descriptions of styles and genres, but the writing is concise and never rambling. There are so many well-chosen photographs in this book, most of which are referenced in the text as it goes along in a very helpful, sequential and educational manner. My only gripe is that many of the pages are b&w while the paintings are in colour, but this is usually arranged so that the most colourful paintings are shown in colour, while (mostly) the drab grey paintings are depicted in b&w. I think even these still ought to be shown in colour though. Immaculately proofread and very enjoyable. 4.75/5

[Pete · Rating 4 out of 5]

This lady is a name dropper and skips around from person to person a lot. Sometimes it’s difficult to dig out a cogent biography of any one painter when so many names appear on every page of the narrative.

But overall it’s a workable presentation of the gang of a dozen or so daubing rebels that upset the Paris art scene in 1874 and adequately prepared me to enjoy the recent 150th anniversary exhibit at the Dallas Art Museum. I was surprised to learn how prolific these folks were, some of them produced over a 1,000 paintings.

This compact little book has 209 illustrations (77 in color) and fits nicely on my vertical shelf instead of lying flat on the living room coffee table trying to impress visitors and gathering dust.

Good job. We need more art books just like it.

[Joel Robert Ballard · Rating 4 out of 5]

"'Perhaps we all come from Pissarro. As early as 1865 he eliminated black, dark browns, and ochres, this is a fact. Paint only with the three primary colours and there immediate derivatives he told me.' If Cézanne's memory is reliable, Pissarro must be saluted as not only the most generous and steadfast of the Impressionists, but also as their leader."

So much in agreement with this assessment, I subsequently purchased a print of "March Sun" and it now adorns my living room wall...

Impressionism by Phoebe Pool, is an astutely written, and insightful analysis of a small faction of unknown artists, as they emerged in France during the mid-1800's, and from which subsequently entered many eminent names into the annals of art history. Considered rebels and revolutionaries, they were the counterparts to the contemporary musicians and writers of that time, and embraced the ideas of combining science and sensuality into their art. Pool has wonderfully captured the essence of each of these unique painters, how they interacted with each other, their struggles, their divergent personalities, and their spiritual challenges that often saw both mentorship and collaboration, as well as competition and division.

Whether one be a disciple of art history, or a lay and temporal admirer of a painters soul, Impressionism provides both a satisfying nourishment of intimate insights, and a context for the unique achievements of these singular men and women; lightly brushing a narrative sensation that is not dissimilar to the "plein air" experience found in any one of these masters' canvasses.

"The existence of so many lively and skillful young painters in the Parisian ateliers of the 1860's was a singularly happy accident. Their gifts were diverse; perhaps it is correct to say that there was no such thing as Impressionism, only Impressionists."

[AC · Rating 5 out of 5]

Does anyone savvy here know how to find a free pdf download of this book?
If so, please message me. Thanks

An interesting and sensitive book --

[Rich Gibbons · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gives a great insight into Impressionism - the who, why, what, when and where are all covered and it helps one understand and visualise the relationships between the artists involved.

[Scott Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

The text of this book is very entertaining. Informative and at times technical, but never boring, and in fact it is even a little catty at times. My only complaint is about the reproductions. I'm not a fan of black and white photographs of color paintings, and there are lots of them here. The color in the color reproductions appears to be quite good (although I don't know how accurate they are), but given the size of the book they are a little too small at times. But they serve well enough as illustrations to the text, which is the main draw of this book.

[Robert Bagnall · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you, like me, are rarely able to tell your Monet from your Manet, this readable guide will help throw some light and shade to the subject. I'm working on the basis, of course, that the facts are as presented and the criticism valid - maybe this is all impressions of impressionism and the Phoebe Pool take on art has now been cancelled. I have no idea. For my own part, I'm still not convinced impressionism itself isn't just a talent avoidance strategy, nor that they deserve the praise they're given - can they do faces? can they? really?

[léa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating read. Pool has a way with both telling stories and breaking down complex facts. I've enjoyed every second of learning about these painters, both those I knew before and those I discovered. The illustrations were delightful and necessary. I love impressionism and I loved learning more about it. My favourite work of art included was Troyon's Boeufs allant au labour (annotated as Le Matin in the book). What was yours?

[LC · Rating 4 out of 5]

i really enjoyed pool's writing and i'll definitely check out her other works, but i didn't like how male-centric this was. little to no mention of artists like berthe morisot and mary cassatt... they were basically footnotes in this book.

[Beatrix · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite required reading from art history class.

[Thomas Wayne Broyles · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was an amazing journey learning about the impressionists, and their influence on the following artists.

[翰林院编修]

印象主义艺术：1860 1920
9.3 (88人评价) ［德］英戈·沃尔特 / 王绍祥 / 北京美术摄影出版社 / 2018
本书介绍了法国印象主义、新印象主义及后印象主义的历史，同时也对欧洲其他地区和北美地区的相关艺术发展做了一个综述。

[Benjamin · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Attempts to sum up the achievements and legacy of Impressionism are doomed to failure. It is even questionable whether its full consequences have yet been worked out."

[Victoria Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very informative, but topic transitions are a bit rough.

[Joshua Gates · Rating 3 out of 5]

Renoir 😍😍😍🥰🥰🥰

[JC Sevart · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a book on a particular style of art this is very readable and an interesting look at the various personalities in the 1860-1890 Parisian art scene

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

some helpful info on a broad topic