What a great book. I’d seen all but a handful of the paintings featured here, but the full page of text on each painting filled in details of what was going on in France and the politics of the art scene and so on, so that by the end of the book I feel like I have a good understanding of the frosty reception the impressionists got for the first few years and how the fortunes of the movement changed to the point where it took over the art establishment.
No. 22 of 100 books I intend to read and review in 2019.
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Patrick Sherriff publishes a monthly newsletter highlighting good fiction about Japan and featuring an original painting or sketch. He lives in Abiko, Japan, with his wife and two daughters.
Patrick Sherriff 