GERMANY AUTHOR · PAINTERS · FRENCH PAINTING
Rewald, John
John Rewald (May 12, 1912 – February 2, 1994) was a German-American academic, author and art historian. He is known for his studies of Cézanne, Renoir, Pissarro, Seurat, Van Gogh and Gauguin; and is regarded as the foremost authority on Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, about which he wrote two landmark surveys, History of Impression (1946) and its sequel, Post-Impressionism: From Van Gogh to Gauguin (1956).
DEGAS: I don't want you any more!
— from Degas, 1986
Most acclaimed
Cézanne
The veneration surrounding the French painter Paul Cezanne (1839-1906) for nearly a century has, paradoxically, contributed to the mystery of his genius. His work has been extensively analyzed, but in fundamental respects it remains incompletely understood. As such it is ripe for the reexamination provided by this volume, published on the centenary of the artist's first one-man exhibition, which was mounted in Paris by Ambroise Vollard. More than 240 large colorplates, illuminated by thoughtful commentaries, and 262 black-and-white illustrations of paintings, drawings, watercolors, and sketchbook pages represent all aspects of Cezanne's oeuvre. The book traces the full range of his stylistic evolution: dark and violent canvases of his early period, luminous works in which he came to grips with Impressionism, and the paintings of his maturity that broke entirely new ground. Also explored here is the artist's preoccupation with several themes and motifs - Mont Sainte-Victoire, bathers, and still lifes. Unprecedented in the literature on Cezanne is this volume's comprehensive review of the critical response that the artist's work has evoked, both in his lifetime and afterward. Francoise Cachin, Director of the Musees de France, discusses the years from 1865 to the artist's death in 1906, and Joseph J. Rishel, Curator of European Painting before 1900 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, writes on the years from 1907 to the present. Their extensive quotations from newspaper reviews, monographs, and journal articles by writers from Emile Zola to Meyer Schapiro offer readers the means to evaluate for themselves the many contradictory interpretations of Cezanne's legacy that have been put forth over the last century. Representing the latest scholarship on Cezanne, the book provides a concordance to the numbering system of John Rewald's forthcoming catalogue raisonne of the paintings. . Cezanne also includes the painter's own statements about art and other artists, a fully documented, illustrated chronology by Isabelle Cahn, and an annotated glossary of the collectors who acquired the work of Cezanne, prepared by Walter Feilchenfeldt.
Seurat
Georges Seurat (Paris 1859-1891) was the initiator of Neo-impressionism. With his paintings built up from countless tiny dots or points of paint and his great attention to scientific colour theories, he developed a new form of aesthetics. Seurat died young, at the age of just 31. He was only able to produce around 50 paintings in his short career. Through loans from museums and private collectors from all over the world, the museum has brought together 23 of his paintings and 24 of his drawings. It is the first time that so many of the painted and drawn works of Seurat are being exhibited in the Netherlands. Even 'Le Cirque' (The Circus), one of the showpieces at the Musée d'Orsay, will be coming to Otterlo. Seurat was one of the elite among the Parisian avant-garde artists, and exchanged ideas with like-minded artists and writers. Over the course of the nineteenth century, the French capital developed into a modern metropolis with wide boulevards, large parks, commercial entertainment venues, and a ring of suburbs. Seurat found plenty of subjects for his work. From the frivolous can-can depicted in Le Chahut to the Eiffel Tower, which he painted before construction work on the tower had been completed. From 1885 onwards, Seurat spent his summers at resorts along the coast of Northern France, from Grandcamp to Gravelines. There he produced tranquil seascapes, greatly contrasting with the lively city scenes. One particular highlight is the series of paintings that Seurat produced in Gravelines, the complete series is on show.
Degas
1986
This substantial new monograph on the work of Edgar Degas (1834-1917), one of the most significant artists of the 19th and 20th centuries, is a decisive contribution to the literature on the French Impressionist artist. An innovative and groundbreaking book, with underlying discussions related to "dance, politics and society," it pays special attention to issues of gender, identity, labor, race and the representation of women. Degas worked in various mediums, and, at the end of his life, left around 6,000 works, including 2,000 related to the world of dance and ballet. The contradictions and ambiguities of his art, especially the way he straddles both tradition and modernity, reaffirm both his uniqueness and significance in the history of Western art. Degas: Dance, Politics and Society includes ten essays, never before published, by experts around the world, and also features a visual essay of black-and-white photographs of the bronze sculptures, including Little Dancer Aged Fourteen, by the Brazilian artist Sofia Borges. Through her camera, Borges reinterprets and conceives new images of Degas' most cherished and classic sculptures. Borges' extraordinary photographs reveal, transform and revisit Degas' works in an innovative and radical manner. Exhibition: Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand, São Paulo, Brazil (12.04.2020-08.01.2021).