The Private Lives Of The Impressionists

Nov 7, 2024 5:33 PM

Author:Sue Roe

Manet, Monet, Pissarro, Cézanne, Renoir, Degas, Sisley, Berthe Morisot and Mary Cassatt.

Though they were often ridiculed or ignored by their contemporaries, astonishing sums are paid today for the works of these artists. Their dazzling pictures are familiar - but how well does the world know the Impressionists as people? In a vivid and moving narrative, biographer Sue Roe shows the Impressionists in the studios of Paris, rural lanes of Montmartre and rowdy riverside bars as Paris underwent Baron Haussman's spectacular transformation.

For over twenty years they lived and worked together as a group, struggling to rebuild their lives after the Franco-Prussian war and supporting one another through shocked public reactions to unfamiliar canvasses depicting laundresses, dancers, spring blossom and boating scenes.

This intimate, colourful, superbly researched account takes us into their homes as well as their studios and describes their unconventional, volatile and precarious lives, as well as the stories behind their paintings.

Reviews

A deft account of their varying shades of character and fortune. Roe's quietly successful book tells of ultimate triumph, but shows its human cost

—— Jane Stevenson , Daily Telegraph

Roe is good at bounding from one eye-catching anecdote to another

—— Martin Grayford , Sunday Telegraph

The great strength of Roe's book is the way that it manages to synthesise the wealth of published biographical and scholarly work on half a dozen artists into a coherent narrative of kith and kinship

—— Kathryn Hughes , Guardian

Her book is widely researched but has a neat, light touch

—— Independent on Sunday

Riveting ... Provocative ... Travelling undercover, this brunette produced a book which, like its subject, is wonderfully enlightening

—— Allison Pearson , Daily Telegraph

I defy anyone not to enjoy it ... It is well written, has pace and intrigues the reader ... Hugely entertaining

—— Evening Standard

A busy and eventful voyage round Schamaland.. a one-man babble of erudition and wild enthusiasms

—— Elizabeth Grice , Daily Telegraph

Historian Simon Schama is man of broad interests, making this diverse collection of reviews, speeches and interviews well worth reading

—— Simon Shaw , Daily Mail

Ranging from Scorsese to soufflé Schama is a damn marvel

—— Independent

Lively and provocative... This book is a delight

—— Herald

Richardson, a magisterial writer, brilliant critic and deliriously funny raconteur, is a unique, dazzling match for his subject

—— Financial Times

A colossal undertaking that has taken almost his whole life and will enrich yours forever

—— The Spectator

[It] will be on many an art lover's Christmas list this year.

—— Mary Lussiana , Country & Town House

Fond and faintly disturbing.

—— Nicky Haslam , Spectator

A rattlingly readable effort... Greig does a fine job revealing tales one suspects the artist may have wished to keep private.

—— Alastair Smart , Telegraph

Anybody with an ear for a good story, never mind an eye for fine art, will be beguiled.

—— Hephzibah Anderson , Mail on Sunday

Greig's fascinating, intimate biography of Lucian Freud was a revelation. Every question I had about Freud – from the aesthetic to the intrusively gossipy – was answered with great candour and judiciousness… Wry, dry and completely beguiling.

—— William Boyd , Guardian

[Greig’s] perceptive observations and eagle’s eye for detail immediately drew me in.

—— Rebecca Wallersteiner , Vantage

The Freud who emerges in this account is a slippery figure, not only for journalists who tried to explain him but also for his intimates.

—— New Yorker

Mr Greig's is a compelling portrait of a complete amoralist who became a monstre sacré.

—— The Economist

Greig’s portrait glimmers with his eye for the telling detail.

—— Robert Collins , Sunday Times

A mesmerising book, seamlessly crafted, totally absorbing, and impossible to put down.

—— The Tablet

A very readable and enjoyable book, full of salacious detail of the artist and his fascinating life.

—— Julia Weiner , Jewish Chronicle

This intimate biography of Lucian Freud spares no blushes in its account of one of Britain's greatest painters, tracing his life and work through candid revelations about his views on art, relationships and family.

—— Charlotte Mullins , Art Quarterly

Building up brush stroke by brush stroke, Greig has produced a three-dimensional study of equal candour. Part demon, part genius, it is an absorbing portrait of the complexity of a strange human character.

—— Peter Lewis , Daily Mail

An unapologetic mixture of intelligent perception and high gossip... It is, overall, more revealing than anything about [Freud] yet written.

—— Frances Spalding , Guardian

I am captivated by this fascinating memoir... It's an extraordinary read.

—— Barbara Taylor Bradford , Daily Mail

Candid and intelligent.

—— Spear's

A gripping, page-turning vision of Lucian Freud that penetrates deep into the artist's private life.

—— Sunday Times Online

Utterly engrossing and lavishly illustrated

—— Mail on Sunday

Previous Article：The Raphael Trail Next Article：The Bayeux Tapestry

Comments

Welcome to zzdbook comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.