Description
Book SynopsisExploring the political forces that shaped Impressionism, this work proposes that at the heart of the modern is a "guilty secret" - the need of the dominant, mainly bourgeois, classes in Paris to expunge from historical memory the haunting nightmare of the Commune and its socialist ideology.
Trade Review"Henceforth, it will be impossible to treat the question of the origins of Impressionism without making reference to [Boime's] work, whether it be to extend it, amend it, or refute it."--Barthelemy Jobert, Revue de l'Art "Through Boime's distinctive 'vision,' the book mounts an altogether new explanation of Impressionism, one that intentionally differs from the most influential, those of T. J. Clark and Robert Herbert."--Hollis Clayson, Apollo Magazine
Table of ContentsLIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS XI ACKNOWLEDGMENTS XV 1. INTRODUCTION 3 2. THE CRITICAL RECEPTION 27 3. THE DISLOCATING IMPACT OF THE COMMUNE ON THE IMPRESSIONISTS 46 4. THE IMPRESSIONIST AGENDA 77 5. MAPPING THE TERRAIN 114 EPILOGUE: GEORGES SEURAT'S Un Dimanche a la Grande fatte AND POST-COMMUNE UTOPIANISM 140 APPENDIX: ON OLIN LEVI WARNER'S DRAFT OF A SPEECH IN DEFENSE OF THE FRENCH COMMUNE 186 NOTES 209 POSTSCRIPT 223 INDEX 225
