The "point" of Impressionist art was to capture the fleeting moment, the transient effect of a certain place, person or time. Impressionist artists worked on site with speed and directness, hoping to distinguish their works with a new freshness, immediacy, and truthfulness. Yet the paintings they exhibited were in fact almost always completed in the studio later. This beautifully illustrated book investigates for the first time works that might truly...

"Richard Brettell's innovative account explores the aims and achievements - the beautiful and the bizarre - of artists such as Monet, Gauguin, Picasso, and Dali, in relation to urban capitalism and expansion, colonialism, nationalism and internationalism, and the museum. Tracing common themes of representation, imagination, perception, and sexuality across works in a wide range of different media, he presents a fresh approach to the fine art and photography...

"In many of Edouard Vuillard's (1868-1940) most famous paintings, figures are nestled in intimate settings among bold patterns and colors. As the viewer's eye adjusts to the complexity of the scene, the artist's world opens up. At a young age, Vuillard was one of a group of avant-garde painters in Paris who favored rich palettes and dreamlike imagery. He was equally a member of the literary and theatrical circles that included writers like Marcel...