A collection of essays, paintings, and personal correspondence celebrates the life and legacy of Frédéric Bazille, an instrumental but largely unsung iImpressionist talent. The paintings of Frédéric Bazille (1841–1870) were rediscovered after the turn of the nineteenth-century by art critics and curators who credited the artist as an important pioneer in the development of Impressionism. Tracing his artistic career from its inception—including his links to Manet, Monet, Renoir, and Cézanne—this book unveils Bazille’s complete painted works. Organized both thematically and chronologically, this monograph also features facsimiles of the artist’s personal letters interspersed throughout the book on special paper inserts, and it is completed with a comprehensive bibliography, a list of works, and maps detailing his life in Montpellier and Paris. The book accompanies an exhibition at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. from April 9 to July 9, 2017.

Frederic Bazille and the Birth of Impressionism

Arts & Photography

Jones, Kimberly

Hilaire, Michel

History & Criticism

Flammarion

Published for an exhibition at the Fondation Beyeler, this volume concentrates on Gustav Courbet's position as the first avant-garde painter. With his provocative canvases and his emphasis on the artist as individual, Courbet was a crucial precursor of modernism who broke with the conventions of traditional academic training. Featuring self-portraits, representations of women and pictures of grottos and seascapes, this volume highlights Courbet's innovative implementation of color and his strategic use of ambiguity. Other themes include his break with French academic tradition, the development of Realism in art, his revolutionary impasto painting technique and his playful treatment of traditional motifs and symbols. Courbet's famous painting "L'origine du monde" is at the heart of the book and exhibition. Made in 1866, the painting was for decades the unknown masterpiece of the nineteenth century-a work that few saw at the time but which everyone discussed, and which retains its provocativeness even today. Courbet's landscapes-depicting the springs, caves, steep limestone cliffs and the forests of Jura around Ornans, where he was born-are often combined with representations of the female nude, uniting sexuality and nature in a fascinating equilibrium. Other canvases center on the impenetrable darkness of mountain caves (showing Courbet to have been a master of suggestion), and snowscapes.

Gustave Courbet

Guégan, Stéphane

MOTTIN, BRUNO

Hatje Cantz

Alfons Mucha is known largely for having originated Art Nouveau, when his poster of the actress Sarah Bernhardt became a legendary icon of the movement. Mucha went on to design hundreds of pieces in the decorative arts field, but later distanced himself from the style he pioneered, devoting his time and energy to painting. This book presents the full array of Mucha's artistic contributions-not only his posters and jewelry designs but also his design for the pavilion of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the 1900 World's Fair. The book also includes his works on canvas, which include pastels and frescoes, and his magnum opus, The Slavic Epic, a series of 20 paintings depicting the history of his native people. A stunning selection of 700 color illustrations is accompanied with essays that explore Mucha's style and inspirations, his transition away from the decorative arts, and his forays into photography. Fans of Art Nouveau will treasure this dazzling and unique study of the artist and his contributions to design and illustration.

Alphonse Mucha

Gaillemin, Jean-Louis

Husslein-Arco, Agnes

Lange, Christiane

Individual Artists

Prestel

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Books by Hilaire, Michel