Author:
Ross King
Stars:
2
Review by: MandyApgar
Probably the
least appealing book I have read by the noted art historian / author.
Spanning the period between an infamous Paris art showing in 1863 (where
many founders of the genre were ridiculed by the establishment) to
another in 1874, it brings
in the lives and careers of Manet, Monet, Whistler, Meissonier, Zola,
Degas, and so many others into a sort of combined cultural biography of
the Impressionistic movement. And it is surprisingly dull. Its main
fault is I think from simple overload - there are
so many people in here he doesn't seem to flesh out or really define
each person well and they tend to suffer for it. The author has done
personality heavy books before, like with "Michelangelo and the Pope's
ceiling," and not have the telling suffer for it,
so I am unsure why he isn't as concrete with his work as usual. His
other books have been pretty much all set on works during the
Renaissance so maybe that is also why he isn't as comfortable with this
period as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment