Nineteenth Century French Art: From Romanticism to Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, and Art Nouveau

Almost twenty years after the creation of the Musee d’Orsay, the 19th century seems more than ever to be the “Golden Age” of French art. It boasts names such as Ingres and Delacroix, Manet and Puvis de Chavannes, Gustave Eiffel and Charles Garnier. French art became a universally accepted benchmark, spreading the discoveries of Impressionism, the Haussmann models, and the daring of art nouveau far beyond its borders, and receiving in return, in the form of the countless artists who flocked to its hub, numerous influences from abroad. Other key movements associated with the19th century include Romanticism; Neo-Classicism, “orientalism,” and japonisme; Realism; the Barbizon School and plein-air painting; Neo-Impression, Cloissonism, and the Nabis; and Symbolism.This complete, chronological history is illustrated by more than 400 illustrations and covers painting, sculpture, and architecture, as well as the advent of photography, its impact on painting, and its emergence as an art form of its own.

Henri Loyrette, president director of the Louvre Museum, was previously director of the Musee d’Orsay (1994). Loyrette has published articles and books on 19-century art and has presided over many exhibitions focusing on the Impressionistst. Sebastien Allard is Heritage Curator in the Painting Department at the Louvre. Allard has also published a book on Paris in 1820. Laurence des Cars is curator at the Musee d’Orsay. A specialist in late 19-century painting, des Cars has published Discoveries: Preraphaelites: Romance and Realism.