No comments about Manet, 1832-1883: Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, April 22-August 8, 1983, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, September 10-November 27, 1983.

5 comments about Alias Olympia: A Woman's Search for Manet's Notorious Model & Her Own Desire.

1. This book is more autobiography than the "art history mystery" I had expected, but it's an engaging story, and well worth reading. When the missing diary, or some such document, which will tell all about the real life story of Victorine Muerant fails to materialize, a fictional version is inserted in chapters. I was dissappointed by this because it gives more weight to the story Ms Lipton invented and hoped to prove, than to the facts she worked so hard to reveal. The research is tedious and discouraging, and the results will not rock the art history world. The true reward for the author is not the tidbits of information she aquires about her subject, but in her own growth both as a blossoming writer and a woman. Her finest writing is in the descriptions of the things she knows best and experiences first-hand: the great food in Paris, her past life, her present feelings, her beliefs and self-realization. It's encouraging that Ms Lipton has chosen now to be a writer, and not an art historian, and I will look forward to her next effort.



2. Lipton seems reluctant to deal with the facts she can recover. Instead, she prefers to create a fiction which is more of a projection of her own neurosis than anything which is supported by her sources. All the primary sources agree that Victorine Meurent was a destitute alcoholic for some time before she dies, but Lipton prefers to imagine her as a proto-feminist heroine. She seems so blinded by her own prejudice that she can only lash out at anyone who presents her with information which paints Victorine in less than favorable colors. For a more balanced view of the same material, find a copy of Otto Freiderich's Olympia: Manet and the Paris of his Times.



3. Being an avid admirer of Manet and of the paintings in which Victorine Meurent appeared, I was happy to see a book about her. Finally, I would be able to learn something of her and her life! I learned that she was a Lesbian and died in 1927 and not as a destitute alcoholic as written in some rather sketchy histories of her. but that is all I learned. The book is actually more about the author and her trying to make peace with her past and her mother than anything else. If you want to learn about Victorine, you must find another book. If you want to know about Eunice Lipton, this is the book for you. Also very few facts in the book; the author puts Victorine in some situations and conversations, but these are all imaginary. Definitely would not recommend. Author was self-indulgent and apparently not very concerned with her subject.



4. My girlfriend was going to do a musical about Victorine, so she spent years researching the subject, and offered Eunice Lipton 300 pages of research for free.
   Imagine our surprise to read the book's first edition and find out that she had characterized my girlfriend as someone with a drinking problem.
   There was a LITTLE PROBLEM with that. My girlfriend has been a lifelong TEETOTALER and had never met Eunice!
   The book fails to describe Victorine, and it never delved into her COMPETENCY as an artist. It also doesn't mention enough famous works by famous artists that Victorine modelled for, so don't stop there when it comes to research.



5. As an art lover and as I writer, the author's style of blending fact with conjecture was very well done. I thoroughly enjoyed the book.

1 comments about Manet: A Visionary Impressionist.

1. This is a GREAT BOOK!!!! You do not have to know anything about art history to be able to appreciate and admire Manet's paintings. Lallemand is a wonderful author. He portrays his subject in an honest way without condemning or praising him, letting the reader decide. The thing I like about the books that Lallemand writes--3 that I know of--is that they are these oversized coffee table books (144 pages), filled with info on the artist, and best of all, IN COLOR PAINTINGS ON EVERY PAGE. This is not like other art books, where the majority of paintings are in black and white, rather the reader gets to savor every picture because they are in color. Plus, there are details and close ups of some of the more famous paintings. And there are over 100 paintings. (Not tiny pictures either, whole pages, two pages even, are used to show the paintings.) [...] I hope everyone who enjoys art owns this book. It is a joy to look through and see the artistry and mastery of Manet.

No comments about Manet: A Retrospective.

No comments about The Hidden Face of Manet: An Investigation of the Artist's Working Processes.

3 comments about Twelve (12) Views of Manet's Bar.

1. This is one of those books that art history students should use to learn the complexity of the field and the many different approaches to art currently practiced by art historians. For lovers of Impressionism, this is one of the deepest and richest studies of a single work-- and what a work! Manet's BAR is one of the most mysterious and gripping works of western art, and it's hard to imagine a work more deserving of this deep treatment.



2. This is the sort of book that gives art history--especially the "new" art history--a black name. Most of the articles are written in deliberately inpenetrable prose, always hiding the the most inept questions and comments (i.e., "Did Manet really intend to paint the mirror that way?") Only Griselda Pollock's article shows any sign of intelligence. Another title for this book: "12 Ways to Kill any Interest in a Work of Art."



3. As a lawyer who has clients involved in the art world, and has Manet (reproductions) on his wall, I have actually recommended this book to people who are thinking about applying to law school. While this may not make immediate sense to a non-lawyer (and may turn you non-lawyers off about the book), the different methodologies, lenses, sensibilities and sometimes inflexible dogmas through which the art historians view this iconic and enigmatic painting find amazing parallels in the wildly divergent theories and perspectives in which legal philosophers, professors and judges view and interpret the complex combination of factors (cultural, societal, class-based, psychological, political, authoritarian, libertarian, scientific, agrarian, industrial, religious, racial, tribal, etc.) through which what we call "the law" develops.

1 comments about Manet's Modernism: or, The Face of Painting in the 1860s.

1. Michael Fried published his magnum opus 'Manet's Modernism: or, The Face of Painting in the 1860s' in 1996, the compendium of three books, actually, that remain the most significant resource of the study of the much maligned painter Edouard Manet. In Manet's time he was essentially hidden in the rise of the more popular Impressionists, garnering criticism form his colleagues and critics alike for works that appeared to mannered, too posed, to unnaturally lighted. But fine author and historian Michael Fried introduces some new ideas about the painter that could just place him in the echelon of the first of the Modernists.
   
   Fried 'suggests' that Manet's paintings were for the most part tableaus created in his studio from professional and non-professional models wearing costumes suggestive of the many allegories and historical events that Manet painted. That fact, in and of itself, does not venture Manet much further thatn say, Caravaggio et al, but it is the interplay between the subjects and the painter (and hence the observer) that Fried alls to our attention. The lighting of his paintings seem to have its source from the front as opposed to the back lighting or streams of side lighting usually chosen by other painters. And to make the controversy even more interesting, Fried suggests that this studio technique coupled with various observances of his models' features (eg. barefeet that suggest having worn contemporary type shoes) may - and the important word is 'may' - represent the uses of photography as the tool Manet used! Horrors! you say? But then by the time of the painting period of the 1860s that Fried is exploring, photography was well known and fairly widely used as a means of documenting history, battles, families etc. So why should an artist of Manet's importance not include this new tool in his painting paraphernalia?
   
   It is an interesting concept and one that in today's widely used techniques among artists of not only using photographs to reference 'sittings' for later solo studio work but also to include photography in the canvases (witness Rauschenberg, etc) makes complete sense. Gone are the prejudices against photography as not being 'pure'. And it just may be that Manet, if he indeed used photographs in his painting preparation, is more important in the overall history of painting advancement than he has been regarded! A fascinating book (even at 676 pages) and a fine addition to the library. Grady Harp, January 07

3 comments about The Reading Woman: A Journal.

1. This is a beautiful journal for women who love books and reading. This lovely volume is organized for the books you've read, books you want to read, books you've loaned out, and more. What sets this jewel apart from other book journals are the lovely prints of paintings depicting women in various situations, simply enjoying reading. No cooking, caring for children, cleaning, teaching, nursing, etc. Just reading for pleasure. The journal also includes wonderful quotes about reading and books. Beautifully done.



2. I picked up "The Reading Woman" in a museum gift shop and have loved owning it. I use it as a journal of the books I've read in the past and what I'm currently reading. It's amazing how quickly you forget a books you've read, so I enjoy writing my thoughts right after I finish one. The illustrations are lovely, some of them paintings from other centuries. Women have made time for reading FOREVER. Now that I've filled this journal completely, does anyone know of a similar one I can start?



3. "This exquisite volume, illustrated with beautiful full-color reproductions of paintings of women reading, provides compelling inspiration for recording one's private thoughts. Works by Mary Cassatt, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Edouard Manet, Edward Hopper, James McNeill Whistler, and Winslow Homer, as well as contemporary selections, are included. Quotes from well-known female writers on the subjects of literature and reading appear throughout.
   
   "Pomegranate's illustrated journals lend inspiration to thinkers, observers, and diarists. Hardcover, with a contrasting ribbon marker, each journal features 26 full-color illustrations and a wealth of insightful quotes. At only $17.95 it will appeal to the writer in everyone. 120 lined pages. ISBN: 0-87654-816-8; size: 5 1/2 x 8 1/2"."--© Pomegranate

1 comments about Edouard Manet, 1832-1883: The First of the Moderns (Taschen Basic Art).

1. This great little book has all of Manet's paintings in it. If the text discusses it, then the picture is in there. It includes enlargements of selected areas of critical paintings and even includes paintings by others if a comparsion is made. The scholarship is excellent including placing Manet in context, except for mistaking the American Revolution for the Civil War. For $10, one cannot beat this book. Highly recommended, I couldn't put it down.

3 comments about The Painting of Modern Life.

1. I like to think of myself as a person who is curious about a wide range of things, especially in the realm of culture and the arts. Most art history books, however, put me right to sleep, with their endless catalogs of curatorial details about brushstrokes and paint textures and influences and provenance. These detailed analyses almost never situate the paintings in any sort of context and almost never explain WHY we should be interested in these details, other than to prove ourselves worthy connoiseurs to others in the know. Clark's book is a refreshing change from such mandarin drivel. Clark begins with a lengthy discussion of the social context of the paintings he is about to discuss and only then proceeds to extended analyses of particular paintings. Clark is interested in the larger ideas and trends of the period and, most important of all, actually USES the details of the paintings as evidence in the course of making an ARGUMENT about what the paintings mean (hint to other art historians: having an argument contributes significantly to the interest of a book or article). In addition, Clark's argument about the nature of the social changes occuring in France in the 1860's and 70's is compelling and thought-provoking (be forewarned: some Marxism is involved). I found myself actually learning things about the paintings Clark discusses, and looking at them over and over again, trying to find more in them, in much the same way as I would go back to a book or a poem after reading a good piece of literary criticism. I think this book will appeal to anyone who wants to learn more about either 19th-century French painting or 19th-century France. Clark is a stimulating and perceptive guide to this crucial period in the history of painting. Bravo!



2. As a student of nineteenth century French painting, I think this may in fact be the finest book ever written on Parisian painting in the time of Haussmanization. Clark manages to offer an intelligent Marxist-based claim about class and the emerging Parisian landscape in the 60's without losing sight of the paintings themselves. While most scholars feel the genius of this book lies in his wonderful discussion of "what couldn't be seen in Olympia", I find the first chapter "Environs of Paris" equally fascinating in its discussion of Manet's Exposition Universelle of 1867. A MUST read for any lover of Parisian history or Manet.



3. Seurat's,'La Grande Jatte' spelled the limits of petti-borgeoise modernity. For the previous 20 years, the Impressionists, led by the incomparably gifted, Manet, had attempted to make images describing this class, their appearance & behaviour. However,the Impressionists were bourgeoise & inevitably more aligned to their own class, and with the simultaneous rise of the dealer-critic system. Thus the steady sequence of shows, interviews & promotional literature issuing from managed,'creative' artists became the commonplace we experience in the arts today. The new class disappeared from Impressionist art when it was absorbed into the bourgeoise.Witness Monet's shrewd disavowal of the figure as he opted for his less offensive, touristy canon of landscapes. The detatchment of Manet's barmaid at the Follies, 1882,and the inanimate, even catatonic people in Degas's pictures of this period exemplify the new class. Clark argues that the emergence of this class was a product of the rebuilding of Paris by Baron von Haussmann. The old work centre of the city was guttered during the rejig, the trades & graves moved to new peripheries, and commercial entertainments, leisure & pleasure grew in their place to cater for this new white-collar mass public. The questionable role of prostitution is crucial to Clark's claims for this class and it is on this question that Manet is pre-eminent. This era announced the rise of capitalism and the spectacle society of which Clark is a major critical voice. Prodigious scholarship, marvellous insights, with fascinating, rarely reproduced 'secondary' art works to flesh out the theme; I can't think of a better way of teasing back the past to view the present.