Impressionism: Art, Leisure, and Parisian Society

I taught college level painting and art history courses for ten years. This is one of the most memorable books I used as source material. Usually a treatment of Impressionism will write of it as a movement in response to the paintings of the Academy; an inquiry into the play of light and instantaneity. Fine, fine, but how many books do we really need that say the same thing ? This book looks at changes in the architecture of Paris which changed the city from a network of villages into a web of wide boulevards and massive, sometimes monotonous buildings. People (many of them young) were moving into the city and feeling the displacement and dehumanization which we usually associate with depictions of Victorian era London.Herbert spends a good bit of time looking at the clothing of individuals portrayed in paintings to ruminate about their social standing. His keen eye for gesture picks up a lot. Looking at an outdoor cafe scene by Manet, he notices that the young man at the table with a woman is actually kneeling next to her, not seated there. From this he infers that the man is trying to pick up the jeune fille. The rather prudish look on her face seems to confirm that this is what's happening.The copious illustrations are wonderful. Many are of paintings which are infrequently reproduced in art books. There are also a lot of works by Gustave Caillebotte whose compositions are so fascinating. The writing is lively. I think this is a terrific book for a lover of Impressionism and/or a lover of Paris. It's a wonderful fusion of images and prose. I'm just so glad to find it available at such a reasonable price.

This was one of the most informative books I have read on the subject of Impressionism. I found the writing easy to follow and Mr.Herbert's command of his subject matter is fantastic. The narrative was so that one could grasp the concepts and his writing style was a delight. If I were to rate this, it would be at the very top of my list of recommended reading, not only for artists or historians, but for anyone interested in the subject.

I must say that I've read quite a few Impressionist books in recent years. In no way do they come close to the entertainment and ease which I found in this book! As I began to read it, more for pleasure than anything else, I found that I was actually interested enough to continue reading it until the end! There was no overtly boring or tedious sections to the book and the full page photos only helped to enliven my imagination. An excellent read and an easy study!

The book "Impressionism: Art, Leisure, and Parisian Society" by Robert L. Herbert gives reader a very interesting insight into the lifestyles of Parisians of the early 1860's to mid-1880's. Generally received very well and highly recommended to broad audiences, the book makes an excellent material for course reading. The factor that makes it innovative and especially interesting for a wide audience of readers is the author's insight, his relation of emergence and development of Impressionism to the social institutions and changes in the lifestyles of the French and especially those of the Parisians. The book is very well structured and gives a good overview of the early Impressionism. The author refrains from using terms unknown to a common reader. The style of writing and language are very pleasant, which makes the reading rather delightful. What makes it especially interesting is the inclusion of the accounts by contemporary visitors, who express their ideas on the new "Haussmannian" Paris. The new Paris with its broad boulevards in author's opinion is directly related to emergence of the new trend in art, the Impressionism. Supplied with a broad variety of images (311), which include paintings of the leading impressionists, such as Edouard Manet, Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir and Edgar Degas, as well as contemporary prints and posters, photographs, plans and maps of Paris and its surroundings, the material is colourful and exciting. Each chapter of the book discusses in detail a particular subject, an aspect of Parisian social scene. Robert L. Herbert also employs an unusual comparison of the paintings in his book: rather than comparing impressionist pieces to works of earlier periods, he makes comparisons among the impressionist paintings always tying the theme of the pieces to the social situation. He also ties the main motifs in each of the artist's works to their social background and upbringing. Overall, the book is very interesting and the author expresses some innovative and intriguing ideas. Nevertheless some criticism can be made. The manner, in which Robert L. Herbert has divided his book into chapters, makes it evident that the book has been developed on the basis of lecture notes. Restricted timeframe, the period from the early 1860's to mid-1880's, and specific attachment to Parisian social scene bring out constricting boundaries on the development of the subject of Impressionism in general. Perhaps, that is the reason why the author overlooks some themes in the impressionism, such as still life, landscape, riverscape, portraiture, series paintings and painting in the Southern France, Italy and England. Such restrictions also permit the author to ignore late Impressionism as well as Post Impressionism, which could have made the book on Impressionism more complete. The book focuses on social history of Impressionism, and taking into consideration the above-mentioned restrictio