Books about Impressionist from Amazon.com

Though they were often ridiculed or ignored by their contemporaries, today astonishing sums are paid for their paintings Their dazzling works are familiar to even the most casual art lovers—but how well does the world know the Impressionists as people?

Sue Roe's colorful, lively, poignant, and superbly researched biography, The Private Lives of the Impressionists, follows an extraordinary group of artists into their Paris studios, down the rural lanes of Montmartre, and into the rowdy riverside bars of a city undergoing monumental change. Vivid and unforgettable, it casts a brilliant, revealing light on this unparalleled society of genius colleagues who lived and worked together for twenty years and transformed the art world forever with their breathtaking depictions of ordinary life.

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Price: $8.45 [Notify me when price goes down.]

"This British import pays joyful homage to the world of the Impressionists When Katie and her grandmother visit an art museum to celebrate the elder's birthday, the girl wanders into a gallery where she admires Claude Monet's The Luncheon.... With a blink of her eyes, Katie is magically transported into the painting... Lovely watercolors emulate the style of the Impressionists... Not only does this delightful fantasy succeed as art education, but it's a charming story as well." --School Library Journal

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The female members of the nineteenth-century Impressionist movement are usually painted out of official art history, although Edouard Manet for one testified to the talents of his friends Berthe Morisot (whose "Harbor at Lorient" of 1869 he so admired that she gave it to him) and Eva Gonzales (the only pupil Manet ever took), and discussed matters of painting with them as readily as with male peers like Edgar Degas. Even Degas himself, notoriously misogynistic, invited Mary Cassatt to exhibit with him (she was the only American to do so); and Marie Bracquemond also exhibited at the Impressionist exhibitions of 1879, 1880 and 1886, despite the discouragement of her husband. All of these women practiced and supported Impressionism from its earliest days, when it was still a popular sport to deride it. Nonetheless, for Morisot, Gonzales, Bracquemond and Cassatt, the chances of equivalent long-term recognition were predictably slim, and while their own individual oeuvres were too strong and too omnipresent in their own time to be entirely eradicated from the annals of art, they have rarely received due attention in the hands of subsequent commentators. This stunning 400-page compendium, published to accompany the important traveling exhibition which goes to San Francisco in the summer of 2008, corrects this longstanding oversight, presenting these pioneering painters alongside each other for the first time, reproducing their oil paintings, pastels, watercolors, drawings and etchings and offering a cogent rebuttal of familiar Impressionist narratives..
Price: $32.50 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Sumi-e is the classic painting style of Japan, and its graceful simplicity is admired around the world. A natural follow-up to the best-selling The Sumi-e Book, The Sumi-e Dream Book demonstrates how to take the classic brushstrokes of sumi-e to a new level of painting, where creativity is inspired by deeply felt memories and spiritual expression. First, sumi-e artist Yolanda Mayhall provides a brief history and explains the philosophy behind this classic Japanese painting style. She highlights its many masters, one of them her ancient mentor the master brush painter, woodblock, and dream journey artist Hokosai. Next, she reviews the classic materials and the basic brushstrokes of sumi-e known as the Four Gentlemen: Bamboo, Wild Orchid, Chrysanthemum, and Plum Branch, along with their variations. Finally, Mayhall puts it all together to demonstrate the sumi-e art of dream journey painting. Readers will learn a variety of creative and exciting techniques for using color to add a delightful dimension to the sumi-e image as well as discover exciting techniques for visually capturing important life memories and spiritual reflections in a painting. .
Price: $13.04 [Notify me when price goes down.]

One could hardly visit Paris without viewing the work of the French impressionist painters, whose innovative take on the City of Light left an indelible mark on the art world. This charming little hardcover, perfect for the pocket or backpack, allows travelers to venture beyond the museum walls and trace the footsteps of these great artists, including Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, and Edouard Manet, just to name a few. Three city walking tours--surprisingly manageable considering the city's size--cover not only the sites depicted in many of their paintings, but also "the studios in which they worked, the buildings where they lived, and--this being Paris--the cafes in which they gathered." Expertly organized and packed with fascinating facts, including topographical and historical notes, detailed city maps and legends, recommendations for conveniently located restaurants, anecdotes about the artists and their work, and reproductions of the paintings, The Impressionists' Paris "brings the museum experience out into the real world, to better appreciate both the art and the city, one through the other." --Stefanie Hargreaves.
Price: $9.94 [Notify me when price goes down.]

With 320 illustrations, 151 in full color, and 18 pages of gatefolds .
Price: $39.57 [Notify me when price goes down.]

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