Impresesionist France Visions of Nation from Le Gray to Monet  Illustrated Coffee Table Book

Impressionist France explores the resonances between landscape art and national identity as reflected in the paintings and photographs made during this period, examining and illustrating in particular the works of key artists such as Édouard Baldus, Gustave Le Gray, the Bisson Frères, Édouard Manet, Jean-François Millet, Claude Monet, Charles Nègre, and Camille Pissarro. This ambitious premise focuses on the whole of France, exploring the relationship between landscape art and the notion of French nationhood across the country’s varied and spectacular landscapes in seven geographical sections and four scholarly essays, which provide new information regarding the production and impact of French Impressionism. 

Simon Kelly is curator of modern and contemporary art at the Saint Louis Art Museum. April M. Watson is associate curator, photography, at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.