Rigorously researched and beautifully written, this is a compelling read.
Feature image credit: Text Publishing
The mid-19th century in France was a time of dizzying change politically, socially, and culturally. In particular, the year 1870-71 became known as “The Terrible Year.” The Franco-Prussian War gave rise to the siege of Paris, and later the Commune, followed by inhumane reprisals for those involved. Parisians starved, died, and had their homes shelled or burned. Almost every Parisian lost someone close to them that year.
Among the long-suffering Parisians were Édouard Manet, Berthe Morisot, Gustave Courbet, and myriad other artists, all of whom sweated each year to get their work accepted into the annual Salon de Paris. A breakaway group of these artists would eventually become known as “The Impressionists.”
Paris in Ruins tells the story of these turbulent years, through the eyes of these artists — particularly Manet and Morisot who remained close their whole lives, with Morisot eventually marrying Manet’s brother Eugène.
Author Sebastian Smee has managed to weave together mainstream history, art history, and biography into a magnificent and expansive whole. Adelaide-born Smee is the art critic for The Washington Post, and a Pulitzer Prize winner. With his broad understanding of art’s context as well as its content, he is well placed to put together this remarkable narrative.
Smee writes with passion and immediacy. He delivers times of war and horror both in broad socio-political terms, and in the most intimate and personal terms. The art of the protagonists becomes evidence of the political being personal. Politics is seen to shape the world within which this groundbreaking art existed, but also to inform the content and style. Many writers could make this narrative dense and nearly impenetrable. Smee’s writing jumps off the page, making complete sense at every turn. It is imbued with both intelligence and warmth.
This is a work which speaks of political upheaval, social turmoil, artistic differences, complex intimate relationships, the struggles of female artists, and a city and country trying to write its own story. One would expect a work which covers so much to be slightly chaotic. Not so. Smee has crafted a compelling and quite personal narrative which puts his reader in the heart of Paris in 1870, taking tea with Berthe and wandering the halls of the Salon, as well as despairing of the violence, upheaval, and uncertainty of that Terrible Year.
Paris in Ruins is as much a masterpiece as Morisot’s The Sisters, or Manet’s Rue Mosnier with Flags. A perfect read for yourself, or a wonderful Christmas gift for the history buff or art lover in your circle.
Reviewed by Tracey Korsten
The views expressed in this review belong to the author and not Glam Adelaide, its affiliates, or employees.
Distributed by: Text Publishing
Released: September 2024
RRP: $36.99
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