From Library Journal
This catalog for a show at Atlanta's High Museum explores the synergy between two French painters, Claude Monet and Frederick Bazille. An introduction and two essays imply that, because of their shared working conditions and close relationship, the pair parallel Picasso and Braque. This may be stretching things a bit. In separate essays, Champa (art, Brown Univ.), Brenneman (a curator at the High Museum), and Dianne W. Pitman (an independent scholar) competently interpret early paintings, describe the painters' mode of working (en plein air), explore their experiences at Gleyre's ?cole, detail Bazille's financial independence and attendance at medical school, examine Monet's marriage to his model, and discuss their circle of friends, including Renoir. In the end, though, it seems less likely that the two were codependent than that Bazille was dependent on Monet. The book is well-illustrated with reproductions that are arranged carefully to match the text. Recommended for its unique perspective to large public library and museum collections.-Ellen Bates, New York Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Monet & Bazille: A Collaboration is the first in-depth examination of the momentous relationship between Claude Monet and Frederic Bazille. From 1864 to 1870, before Monet fully developed the sparkling, spontaneous painting style for which he is best known, and before Bazille was killed in the Franco-Prussian War, the two struggled together to develop a new style of painting that became known as Impressionism. No other publication has presented such a thorough look at this combative but extraordinarily fruitful collaboration, which was crucial to the birth of this dazzling and overwhelmingly popular artistic movement. The book includes superb colorplates as well as many details of the artists' finest works of this period.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal