Ernst Meissonier and Art for the French Bourgeoisie
Ernst Meissonier and Art for the French Bourgeoisie
Out of Print
This study documents the career of one of the most widely known French artists of the nineteenth century. The embodiment of mainstream taste, Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier was scorned by the avant garde but was highly regarded by his middle-class clientele for his jewel-like genre paintings. Examining his art in detail, Constance Cain Hungerford follows Meissonier's formation as a wood-engraving designer, to his virtuoso production of small scale genre scenes, his larger battlefield paintings, and his several images of modern revolution and war. Also analyzed is the state-administered exhibition system, in which Meissonier excelled, as well as the developing art market, in both Europe and the United States.
- Only such study in English since 1897
- Includes checklist of works exhibited during artist's lifetime, with reproductions or sources where they may be found
- Over one hundred illustrations, including four in colour
Reviews & endorsements
"Hungerford's wonderful perceptions and insights allow the reader to expand on and reconceive the genius of Meissonier. Highly recommended for scholars interested in French and non-French artists of the 19th-century genre." Choice
"This is elegant book is a richly-documented monograph....[Hungerford's] writing style throughout the book is lucid, vivid, harmonious....This scholarly, beautifully well-written study is an essential tool for students of French nineteenth century art as well as for all those interested in the history and aesthetics of the time. Constance C. Hungerford is to be commended for producing this remarkable in-depth and multifaceted of Meissonier." Nineteenth-Century French Studies 28
Product details
March 1999Hardback
9780521632409
288 pages
262 × 185 × 26 mm
0.98kg
98 b/w illus. 4 colour illus.
Unavailable - out of print November 2007
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- 1. Meissonier's formation
- 2. Critical sources in the July monarchy
- 3. The Revolution of 1848
- 4. The genre paintings of the Second Empire
- 5. A banker will buy it
- 6. A new apprenticeship in history painting
- 7. Siege and Civil War
- 8. The Flash of Sabres
- 9. Achilles in his tent
- 10. Enthroned in full glory.
