Impressionism

Celebrations of city streets, tranquil vistas of the countryside and seashore, enchanting images of the leisured classes in domestic interiors or at fashionable Parisian cafés - the work of the Impressionists gives pleasure to art lovers everywhere. But while Impressionism today may appear natural and effortless, contemporaries were shocked by the loose handling of paint and the practice of painting out-of-doors. In defiance of the conservative official Salon, the Impressionists, led by Edouard Manet, Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Edgar Degas, sought to capture the immediacy of experience.

This fascinating, comprehensive study brings together the most recent research on Impressionism. James Rubin makes accessible its philosophical, political and social context. As well as the acknowledged masters, our attention is drawn to lesser known but important Impressionists such as Berthe Morisot, Mary Cassatt and Gustave Caillebotte.

James H Rubin is Professor of Art History at Stony Brook, State University of New York, and also teaches at the Cooper Union in New York City. His books include Impressionism, Realism and Social Vision in Courbet and Proudhon and Manet's Silence and the Poetics of Bouquets, and, in the Art & Ideas series, Courbet.

'There is nothing like James Rubin's Impressionism ... no other existing book covers all its aspects from so many diverse angles, in such a readable fashion ... as a potential college course textbook, this one beats the rest.' (Carol Armstrong, Department of Art History, Princeton University)

'A superbly insightful book that provides an original and much needed synthesis of years of Impressionist scholarship.' (Nina Kallmyer, Professor of Art History, University of Delaware)

'A masterly sythesis of the new research surrounding the study of Impressionism. For all its conceptual sophistication, Rubin's book also provides numerous examples of precise and beautifully nuanced formal analyses of paintings. Highest recommendation.' (Choice)

'Art & Ideas has broken new ground in making accessible authoritative views on periods, movements and concepts in art. As a series it represents a real advance in publishing.' (Sir Nicholas Serota, Director, Tate London)

'The format is wonderful and offers what had long been missing in academic studies: usable manuals for specific themes or periods...I am definitely not alone in welcoming Art & Ideas as a precious set of teaching tools.' (Joachim Pissarro, Yale University)