Born in mid-19th century France as a movement in direct opposition to the academic directives of the Paris Salon, Impressionism appealed immediately to the pioneering taste of American collectors. The subsequent generosity of these early collectors has made museums in the United States extraordinarily rich with many of the finest examples of this most popular style of painting. The forty-eight full-color illustrations in Impressionist Masterpieces in American Museums vividly exemplify the diversity and richness of Impressionist painting from the late 1860s through the beginning of the twentieth century. Commentary accompanying each illustration explores the historic and artistic roots of this revolutionary movement; an introductory essay examines the world of the first American collectors. In 1874, a group of painters, frustrated by their rejection from the official Paris Salon exhibitions, banded together to show their works independently. Drawing upon subjects from modern life, without ennobling them, and painting them in a manner that appeared direct and spontaneous, these innovative artists including Claude Monet, Eugene Boudin, Edgar Degas, Paul Cezanne, Berthe Morisot, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro, and Alfred Sisley, pointedly challenged official art and ultimately changed traditional conventions and standard expectations of painting itself. The group - all represented in this book - came to be known as the Impressionists. -- amazon.com
Auth: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Dist by Simon & Schuster, Full-color plates.
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