Description
Book SynopsisA study of French sculptor and political activist, Jean Baffier, a promoter of regional culture and a militant nationalist who attempted a political assassination.. It explores the range of Baffier's activities and shows that he was pursuing a vast scheme of national purification and rebirth.
Trade Review“Superb study of art and lost causes”
—Thomas Laqueur London Review of Books
“As a historical study of an artist, rather than a purely art historical study, Monumental Intolerance makes an extremely important contribution to our knowledge of both art and politics during the Third Republic. McWilliam convincingly demonstrates how and why the career of Jean Baffier is of signal importance. This richly detailed and impeccably researched volume additional gives a view into Third Republic cultural politics that is as compelling as it is dispiriting. For McWilliam has documented the mechanics of ressentiment—resentment—which fostered the consolidation of right-wing factions in opposition to the secularism, internationalism and democrative aspirations espoused by the French left.”
—Abigail Solomon-Godeau Art in America
“A fascinating exploration of an almost wholly forgotten figure. . . . This is categorically not a conventional life-and-works approach to its subject, but rather an exercise in historical recovery.”
—Apollo
