The Impressionists at First Hand

World of Art

by Bernard Denvir (Editor)

Gathers selections from letters, critical reviews, and reminiscences by the impressionist artists and their contemporaries

Genres: Art, Art and Photography, Nonfiction

221 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1987

Reviews

[Tom Connor]

Not really a topic I knew anything about. Interesting to learn how radical there were as a movement, even if the paintings seem pretty tame by today's standards. Modernity and Paris is such an interesting topic so was nice that this book managed to weave that in and managed to show its relevance with photography (a real art form). Was a nice approach to biography to have it all written in first-hand accounts, even if that does make for some dry reading at points. Was very funny for a book that is all about a group of people who prioritised colour over everything, with multiple first-hand accounts of people saying how impressionism is first and foremost about colour, to have 90% of the pictures be in black and white.

[Tracee]

I liked the size of the book but wish it contained more photos of the art, and more page-size photos at that. Some of the text was interesting but I certainly didn’t read it all, I mostly want to look at the art.

[Robert Cormican]

If you are interested in contemporary information about the Impressionists, you can find primary sources translated and collated here. This has passages from the French - and other - critics and key players. Denvir includes all the reviews that I have heard of and some interesting biographical articles on the artists themselves. Really useful and well presented.

[Mills College Library]

759.4 I348 1987