Book Review: Manet Paints Monet

Book: Manet Paints Monet: A Summer in Argenteuil by Willibald Sauerlander with translation by David Dollenmayer

Source: Borrowed from Publisher/NetGalley for an honest review

Publication: Available now

Description:

Manet Paints Monet focuses on an auspicious moment in the history of art. In the summer of 1874, Édouard Manet (1832–1883) and Claude Monet (1840–1926), two outstanding painters of the nascent Impressionist movement, spent their holidays together in Argenteuil on the Seine River. Their growing friendship is expressed in their artwork, culminating in Manet’s marvelous portrait of Monet painting on a boat.

The boat was the ideal site for Monet to execute his new plein-air paintings, enabling him to depict nature, water, and the play of light. Similarly, Argenteuil was the perfect place for Manet, the great painter of contemporary life, to observe Parisian society at leisure. His portrait brings all the elements together— Manet’s own eye for the effect of social conventions and boredom on vacationers, and Monet’s eye for nature—but these qualities remain markedly distinct. With this book, esteemed art historian Willibald Sauerländer describes how Manet, in one instant, created a defining image of an entire epoch, capturing the artistic tendencies of the time in a masterpiece that is both graceful and profound.


Rating: 4 stars

Review:

I could spend countless hours just looking at the beautiful artwork alone but I found the information about Edouard Manet and Claude Monet just as fascinating. Such as in Argenteuil, Monet painted mostly outdoors where it gave him a chance to capture life as it unfolded around him.

This book gives the reader not only background information about the artwork included but also insight into the artists. Manet wanted to study a new painting technique so as not to be surpassed by fellow artists. He visited Monet and studied the plein air technique which is something that Monet is known for. Although, Manet studied the technique he didn't copy it but instead made it his own by using different approaches to the form.

This is a short book that will give readers an invaluable amount of information about two famous painters.