Publisher's Synopsis
An exploration of the Impressionist painters' relationship with the world around them, and the direct and indirect ways in which this provided subject-matter for their art. This book presents an examination of what their painting was about, rather than how or when it was made.;Usually we are so dazzled by the way the Impressionists "looked at things", their techniques, materials and methods, that we tend to forget what their paintings tell us about the world they inhabited, as well as the ways they transformed that world in their work. How far were they politically conscious, aware of the social and economic problems of their day? What part did the sense of place play in their work, did they really know the rural terrain they painted? What was their attitude to the world outside France, to Society, to the hard life of the working man? These are just some of the questions answered in this book.
