The Impressionists at First Hand

The impressionists―Claude Monet, Édouard Manet, Edgar Degas, Berthe Morisot, Camille Pissarro, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley, and others―are probably the most popular of all artistic schools. Their struggle to impose a new vision is one of the most absorbing stories in the whole history of art. With imagination and insight, art historian Bernard Denvir brings impressionism into focus by showing it through the eyes of the artists themselves and their contemporaries, against the background of the time. Through letters, critical reviews, statements, and reminiscences of the people who were there, the story of this groundbreaking art movement comes alive. This was the age of innovation, political liberalization, emergent photography, and modern ideas about perception. The impressionists had new ways of painting, but they also had a new world to paint.

This revised edition now features full-color reproductions of art throughout and an updated bibliography.

Bernard Denvir was a distinguished art critic, art historian, and writer. He was head of the department of art history at Ravensbourne College of Art and Design, a member of the Council for National Academic Awards, and for several years president of the British section of the International Association of Art Critics. He has written widely on art, including books on Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, impressionism, postimpressionism, and fauvism.