Paris in Ruins: Love War and the Birth of Impressionism

Paris in Ruins: Love War and the Birth of Impressionism pdf, epub

The Pulitzer Prize-winning art critic offers a gripping account of the “Terrible Year” in Paris and its monumental impact on the rise of Impressionism.

From the summer of 1870 to the spring of 1871, famously called the “Terrible Year” by Victor Hugo, Paris and its citizens endured a siege, starvation, and surrender to German forces. This turmoil was followed by further chaos as radical republicans established the Paris Commune, which was ultimately crushed by the French Army after bloody street battles and the burning of much of central Paris. Renowned art critic Sebastian Smee shows how the Impressionist movement emerged in response to this violence, civil war, and political upheaval.

In stirring and vivid prose, Smee narrates these dramatic events through the perspectives of key figures in Impressionism. Édouard Manet, Berthe Morisot, and Edgar Degas were trapped in Paris during the siege and deeply involved in its political struggles. Meanwhile, artists like Pierre-August Renoir and Frédéric Bazille joined military regiments outside the capital, and Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro fled the country just in time. In the aftermath of these events, these artists gained a heightened awareness of life’s fragility. This sense of transience—captured in Impressionism’s focus on fleeting light, shifting seasons, brief glimpses of street life, and the impermanence of all things—became the movement’s defining artistic contribution.

At the heart of the story is a love affair between Manet, regarded as the father of Impressionism, and Morisot, the only woman to play a central role in the movement from its beginning. Smee sensitively explores their complex relationship, the profound influence they had on each other, and their enduring legacy, while also giving long-overdue recognition to Morisot’s pivotal role in Impressionism.

Insightful and captivating, *Paris in Ruins* delves into the changing passions and politics of the art world, illustrating how the pressures of the siege and the chaos of the Commune profoundly shaped modern art and how artistic genius can arise from periods of darkness and catastrophe.