Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Edouard Manet's character and his aims and intentions are allowed to speak for themselves in this book, through his writings and reported sayings. His artistic development is shown in essentially visual terms by the juxtaposition of significant works.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Manet's correspondence, recorded recollections of his contemporaries, and color illustrations are here grouped according to three time periods: ``1848-1871, From Youth to Maturity,'' ``1871-1879, Paris in the 1870s,'' and ``1880-1883, The Last Years.'' A brief historical essay begins each section. A fourth section is mostly recorded recollections titled, ``Manet on Art.'' A list of plates and biographical notes conclude the work. The quality of the illustrations is excellent. The correspondence, however, is selected, and by the editor's own admission, ``Some interesting and revealing letters are undated . . . and have therefore been excluded.'' This is unfortunate, since the undatable correspondence may never appear in a work of this quality. The material selected does reveal a proud, stubborn, sensitive, and frequently lonely Manet. Recommended for public and academic libraries.-- P. Steven Thomas, Washburn Univ., Topeka, Kan. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.