As many of you know, I use this blog as a platform for various purposes, one of which is to share with the readers some of the better books that I've read. All of the previous entries in The Book Of The Week Club are publications I stand by and mention in hopes that others will give it the old college try. This week's installment is no different.
Ross King's The Judgment of Paris depicts 1860's and 70's Paris, a 20-year period that was unquantifiable in influence in terms of the arts. Amidst scorn from art critics and fans alike, many of the biggest impressionist painters of the time were beginning to display works that were a massive change from the standards of the time.
The title of King's book is not to be confused with Ruben's famous painting of the same title, which in terms of the context of this book, is quite relevant in itself.
King's research is impeccable and the text is at times so dense it requires a second reading. His true skill is in depicting a time with such complexities that you can envisage yourself walking the streets of Batignolles neighbourhood of Paris with Edouard Manet, his colleague, the famous writer Anton Proust and their band of top-hat sporting absinthe drinkers.
King's text follows the lives of two polarized painters; Ernest Messonier and Manet. Messonier was the world's wealthiest painter and received both large sums of money for his work and praise from critics. His work highlighted past generations and was so exact and precise that the realism spent months to perfect. Manet was the inverse - a painter who looked to break new ground by painting less for precision, and more to convey emotion.
After reading the book, it is amazing just how many influential artists from one period were actually friends and colleagues who knew each other lives and works as intimately as we do today.
Also, King covers the work of artists that helped propagate the era like Ernest Messonier and other such as Titian, whose influence on impressionism was as great, if not greater than others, only to have his name known exclusively by fans of the genre, and not by casual supporters who are well familiar with the works of other painters.
The Judgment of Paris also details the Franco-Prussian War, the Commune and the reign of Bonaparte as backdrops to a time that experienced great change. At the time, Paris was the world's capital for many reasons, least of which was a lengthy list of important and influential artists who would forever change the face of art.
The only regret I have concerning this book is that I had not read it whilst walking the streets of Paris myself. Having known what I do now, it's quite possible I could have walked the streets with a map, showing that I subleted an apartment just a block from Manet's first studio in the Montmartre arrondisement.
Read this book - it is truly an amazing work and one of the best books I've read in the last while.
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