The Bottom Line
The Judgement of Paris is a highly readable biography centred on a crucial period in the lives of the painters Meissonier and Manet, when the former is struggling to hold onto his reputation and the latter struggling for acceptance. It's set against the backdrop of the Parisian art world they lived in and the influence of the Salon.
Painters striving for lasting fame and fortune should read it to learn the lessons from Meissonier's life, while painters striving to find acceptance from the art establishment should read it to learn the lessons from Manet. And if you're an artist who just loves a good read, this is it.
Pros
- A dual biography contrasting a crucial decade for two very different painters, Meissonier and Manet.
- Sets their lives in context of 19th century Paris and France, and the influential Salon.
- Other painters destined to become famous also come into it, such as Monet and Cezanne.
- Packed with information, detail, and historical quotes, but in a very accessible manner.
Cons
- Will distract you from your painting until you've finished reading it!
Description
- Hardback book, 448 pages, published by Chatto & Windus, London. ISBN 0-701-17683-0. Also available as a paperback.
- UK Edition subtitled "Manet, Meissionier and an Artistic Revolution.
- US Edition subtitled "The Revolutionary Decade That Gave the World Impressionism".
- Author Ross King's other books include Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling and Brunelleschi's Dome, as well as novels.
- Appendixes include detailed notes providing sources of anecdotes and quotes, and a political timeline from 1804 to 1873.
Guide Review - The Judgement of Paris: Manet, Meissonier, and an Artistic Revolution
The Judgement of Paris contrasts the lives and artistic struggles of two painters against the backdrop of life in Paris. In the 1860s Ernest Meissonier was one of the most famous artists in Europe. His fame was built on his meticulously detailed, realistic rendering of historical subjects. Meissonier sold his works for record prices and could afford to spend years working on them (he took 13 years to paint Napoleon's victory at Friedland). Today his name commonly solicits the response "Who?".
At the same time Édouard Manet, who now features in every Art History 101 course, was ridiculed by the establishment for his paintings, rejected time and again by the Salon. His determination to pursue his vision, which would be instrumental in changing the way artists painted and the development of Impressionism, is inspirational.
It's a book that's riveting for the overall story of the two artists and the art world at that time, for the insight into the inner workings of the influential Salon which could make or destroy a painter's reputation, and for the info on the methods and approaches of the two painters.
Meissonier made numerous preparatory studies for every painting and worked out the composition, "usually by means of a three-dimensional scale model of the scene", a strategy used by painters such as Michelangelo and Gainsborough. "Almost nothing was left to chance or imagination; everything had to be ... impeccably correct." Manet's paintings, by contrast, seemed unfinished, and the visible workmanship contrary to expectations. Today it's hard to imagine Manet's work as cutting edge, but he changed painting forever.
Reading more like a historical novel with a cast of familiar and unfamiliar historical figures than art history, this book transports you into 19th-century Paris and gives you a feel of what the pursuit of artistic fame is like.
