Sylvie Patry – författare

A wide-ranging exploration of the birth of impressionism centered around the landmark exhibition in Paris in 1874  “The catalogue, in unusual tall format, is particularly attractive and vivacious, full of fresh material and images, expanding the Impressionist cast of characters, exploring Paris as their tumultuous inspiration.”—Jackie Wullschläger, Financial Times, “Best Books of 2024: Art, Design and Fashion”  Discover the origins of impressionism in this revelatory look at the context for the radical 1874 exhibition that is considered the birth of the French art movement. Featuring works by not only Cézanne, Degas, Monet, Morisot, Pissarro, Renoir, and Sisley, but also many other lesser-known participants and those who exhibited at the official Salon that year, this book explores how artists of the time responded to the shifting social and political currents during this singular moment in history, as well as the norms that these artists rebelled against in their new approach to art. This is a milestone reunion of many of the show’s artworks, which include paintings, works on paper, prints, and sculptures, that made the exhibition held by the société anonyme 150 years ago an event of international and lasting significance.  Paris 1874 draws on new scholarship to offer a multidisciplinary approach to impressionism. It explores the important role played by the contemporary press and also contextualizes the movement in relation to the devastation of the Franco-Prussian War and the Commune, as well as the subsequent process of reconstruction. Above all, it challenges established narratives surrounding the origins of impressionism itself by reexamining its position within the larger artistic landscape, particularly in relation to the Salon—which exhibited works strikingly similar to those included in société anonyme’s exhibition. With an engaging design that uses motifs from archival materials to suggest the look of Parisian publications of the 1870s, this book is a handsome and compelling addition to our understanding of the dawn of impressionism and why it is considered a pivotal moment in the history of Western art. Distributed for the National Gallery of Art, Washington Exhibition Schedule:Musée d’Orsay, Paris(March 25–July 14, 2024)National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC(September 8, 2024–January 19, 2025)

The first major English-language publication dedicated to Monet’s letters, expertly selected and richly illustrated with his paintings. Claude Monet’s letters – to his friends, family, fellow artists, patrons and gallerists – offer an unmatched glimpse into the artist’s life, revealing his passions, anxieties and frank opinions, and expanding our view of his working life and practice. From his formative years to fame at the end of his life, this selection of letters is accompanied by profiles of his correspondents, expert introductions and comprehensive annotations. Illustrated with some of Monet’s best-known paintings, contemporary photographs and reproductions of some of the letters themselves, his world is revealed in words and images as never before. Published to mark the centenary of the artist’s death, this is a fresh opportunity to explore the life and letters of the ‘father of Impressionism’ in his own words.

The Barnes Foundation s holdings of works by the renowned Post-Impressionist Paul Cezanne (1839 1906) sixty-one oils on canvas and eight works on paper are among the most significant in the world. The Barnes Foundation was established in 1922 by scientist, entrepreneur, and educator Dr. Albert C. Barnes, a passionate supporter of European modernism. His virtually unrivalled collection, which can only be viewed at the Barnes Foundation, also includes exceptional paintings by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, and many others. Beginning in 1912, Barnes acquired works by Cezanne from major Paris dealers such as Paul Durand-Ruel and soon ranked among the artist s most prominent collectors. At the time, this expressed a pioneering taste that Barnes shared with only a small group of enthusiasts, even though Cezanne had been posthumously hailed as a father of modern art at the turn of the twentieth century. The foundation s impressive holdings of Cezannes never before published in a single study in their entirety span every period of the artist s career and include his largest rendition of The Card Players and one of the three versions of The Large Bathers, one of his signal testaments. This lavishly illustrated landmark volume is both a work on Cezanne and his time, and an impetus for further study of an artist whose oeuvre is at once luminous, austere, challenging, and deeply confounding.