Rather he wishes “to investigate in detail aspects that make it possible to examine the style in terms of its characteristics, its options, its chances, but also its aporias.”
In his introduction, Wolf sets out to “direct at Impressionism’s most important exponents” three questions: where do we come from, what are we, and where are we going? He is (perhaps justly, in many cases) critical of other attempts to give an account of Impressionism, but admits that he does not wish to present a history of Impressionism. As there are no captions given to these, the only way that you can identify them is to leaf through the book and locate other images of those works, a fault repeated periodically throughout the rest of the book. Large even for a large-format art book, and lavishly illustrated (I agree completely), the book opens with spectacular double-page spreads of a series of paintings: Degas, Monet, Turner, Manet, Pissarro, and Monet again. Although not known for his books on Impressionists, Norbert Wolf has written extensively on painters, from Dürer to Picasso, so we should expect this book to break new ground. “Reflecting the most recent research on this groundbreaking artistic movement, this lavishly illustrated and comprehensive book examines Impressionism on a global scale, from its iconic French masterpieces to less familiar works by Scandinavian, German, British, and North American artists.” When a reputable art publisher such as Prestel announces a new book on Impressionism whose blurb starts off:
This is reflected in a literature which sprawls from pocket paperback, to coffee-table elegance and academic rigour. Of all the movements in painting – or art more generally – Impressionism must be commercially the most successful, and the most loved by the public. Not available for Kindle nor in the iTunes Store. Prestel, September (UK), 1 October 2015 (USA)
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