Art of the actual : naturalism and style in early Third Republic France, 1880-1900 / Richard Thomson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Thomson, Richard, 1953- author.

Contributor:

Yale University Press, publisher.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Art and society--France--History--19th century.

Art and society.

Ideology in art.

Naturalism in art.

Painting, French--19th century--Themes, motives.

Painting, French.

Painting, French--Themes, motives.

France.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiii, 362 pages) : 244 illustrations (chiefly color)

Place of Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, [2012]

Summary:

"The French Republic-- with its rallying cry for liberty, equality, and fraternity-- emerged in 1870, and by 1880 had developed a coherent republican ideology. The regime pursued secular policies and emphasized its commitment to science and technology. Naturalism was an ideal aesthetic match for the republican ideology; it emphasized that art should be drawn from the everyday world, that all subjects were worthy of treatment, and that there should be flexibility in representation to allow for different voices. Art of the actual examines the use of naturalism in the 19th-century. It explores how pictures by artists such as Roll, Lhermitte, and Friant could be read as egalitarian and republican, assesses how well-known painters including Degas, Monet, and Toulouse-Lautrec situated their painting vis-à-vis the dominant naturalism, and opens up new arguments about caricatural and popular style. By illuminating the role of naturalism in a broad range of imagery in late-19th-century France, Richard Thomson provides a new interpretation of the art of the period"--Publisher's description.

Contents:

'La République sera naturaliste'

Naturalism at the service of the Republic

Reading naturalist pictures

Naturalism: the problem of style, the evidence of sustainability

'Mingled with veiled satire' : the critical edge of the caricatural

Finding form for the Populaire: class, imagery and identity

Organicism: national energy and natural flux

Repudiating naturalism: the avant-garde seeking style

Naturalism entrenched: tradition, consensus, rupture.

Notes:

Description based on print record and online resource (A&AePortal, viewed on February 7, 2020).

Includes bibliographical references (pages 326-344) and index.

ISBN:

9780300254211

0300254210

OCLC:

1139722255