Book Description
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919) was the only Impressionist artist to paint Orientalist themes, yet little has been written about the two journeys he took to the French North African colony of Algeria in 1881 and 1882. There he created more than two dozen stunning works, depicting exotic scenes of ancient stone mosques, milling crowds at a festival in the Casbah, and spectacular palm fronds in the botanical garden. This important book, published to accompany a traveling exhibition organized by the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, assembles for the first time all of Renoir’s Algerian paintings as a coherent body of work. Handsomely illustrated, the book situates Renoir’s early studio Orientalism within the great tradition of French Orientalist painting. The landscapes and figure paintings Renoir completed in Algiers, several of which are previously unpublished, are discussed in the context of the topography of the city and of the ethnography of its people. Fascinating period photographs, engravings, maps, and postcards, together with an essay exploring the Algeria beyond Renoir’s canvases, provide important historical and cultural background on the country and on the French presence there.
From the Inside Flap
This book is the catalogue for an exhibition at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts from February 16 to May 11, 2003; the Dallas Museum of Art from June 8 to September 7, 2003; and to the Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, from October 6, 2003, to January 18, 2004. Published in association with the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts
About the Author
Roger Benjamin is senior lecturer in art theory at the National Institute of the Arts and visiting fellow at the Centre for Cross-Cultural Research, Australian National University. David Prochaska is associate professor of history at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Renoir and Algeria FROM THE PUBLISHER
"Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) was the only Impressionist artist to paint Orientalist themes, yet surprisingly little has been written about the two journeys he took to the French North African colony of Algeria in 1881 and 1882. There he created more than two dozen stunning works, depicting exotic scenes of ancient stone mosques, milling crowds at a festival in the Casbah, and spectacular palm fronds in the botanical garden - all rendered in his quintessential Impressionist style. This important book, published to accompany a traveling exhibition organized by the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, assembles for the first time all of Renoir's Algerian paintings as a coherent body of work." Handsomely illustrated and beautifully produced, the book situates Renoir's early studio Orientalism of the 1870s within the great tradition of French Orientalist painting. The artist's small group of odalisques and costumed portraits, strongly influenced by Delacroix's Moroccan work, constitutes some of the most sumptuous works of the genre. The book also discusses the landscapes and figure paintings Renoir completed in Algiers, several of which are previously unpublished, placing them in the context of the topography of the city and of the ethnography of its people. An essay exploring the Algeria beyond Renoir's canvases provides important historical and cultural background on the country and on the French presence there.
FROM THE CRITICS
Library Journal
In this catalog for a traveling exhibition organized by the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, MA, Benjamin (art theory, National Inst. of Arts) focuses on Renoir's Oriental paintings. Some were created in Algeria during two brief visits Renoir made in 1881 and 1882 while recovering from pneumonia. Others were studio paintings, done at various times throughout his career, that portrayed Parisian women in the costumes of odalisques. Ever since Delacroix's 1830s visit to Algeria, works reflecting the glories of the French Empire were popular subject matter. An essay by David Prochaska (history, Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) outlines the history of the French in Algeria, and the book conveys the nature of this place, so strange to the French, with many photographs, old postcards, maps, and drawings. This well-illustrated work is unique in Renoir studies, developing a minor theme in the French master's oeuvre and presenting it in pleasing format. One small problem, however-Renoir's letters are not translated from the French. Libraries with an emphasis on Impressionism and 19th-century French painting may want to buy, but large public, museum, and academic collections should purchase only as interest and need warrant.-Ellen Bates, New York Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Art & Photography
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