Synopses & Reviews
In
The Work of Art, Anthea Callen analyzes the self-portraits, portraits of fellow artists, photographs, prints, and studio images of prominent nineteenth-century French Impressionist painters, exploring the emergence of modern artistic identity and its relation to the idea of creative work. Landscape painting in general, she argues, and the and#147;plein airand#8221; oil sketch in particular were the key drivers of change in artistic practice in the nineteenth centuryand#151;leading to the Impressionist revolution.
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Putting the work of artists from Courbet and Cand#233;zanne to Pissaro under a microscope, Callen examines modes of self-representation and painting methods, paying particular attention to the paintersand#8217; touch and mark-making. Using innovative methods of analysis, she provides new and intriguing ways of understanding material practice within its historical moment and the cultural meanings it generates. Richly illustrated with 180 color and black-and-white images, The Work of Art offers fresh insights into the development of avant-garde French painting and the concept of the modern artist.
Review
and#8220;Callen, probably more than anyone else working on nineteenth-century painting today, is able to combine an artistand#8217;s experience of studio practice with an art historianand#8217;s rigorous use of documentation. Her work is immensely valuable for its combination of sensitive visual observation and scrupulous attention to details of historical fact. . . . This book is a major accomplishment.and#8221;
About the Author
Anthea Callen is professor of art in the School of Art at the Australian National University, Canberra, and professor emerita of visual studies at the University of Nottingham, UK. Her many books include
Art, Sex and Eugenics: Corpus Delecti and
The Art of Impressionism: Painting Technique and the Making of Modernity.
Table of Contents
Introduction
1. The Origins of Plein-air Painting to 1850
2. Maandicirc;tre Courbet: The Workerandmdash;Painter
3. Candeacute;zanne, Pissarro and Knife Painting
4. Colour: The Material and the Ephemeral
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References
Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Photo Acknowledgements
Index