Cezanne and the End of Impressionism

Drawing on a broad foundation in the history of nineteenth-century French art, Richard Shiff offers an innovative interpretation of Cezanne's painting. He shows how Cezanne's style met the emerging criteria of a "technique of originality" and how it satisfied critics sympathetic to symbolism as well as to impressionism. Expanding his study of the interaction of Cezanne and his critics, Shiff considers the problem of modern art in general. He locates the core of modernism in a dialectic of making (technique) and finding (originality). Ultimately, Shiff provides not only clarifying accounts of impressionism and symbolism but of a modern classicism as well.

List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Preface Part One - The End of Impressionism 1. Introduction: The Subjectivity of Impressionism 2. Defining "Impressionism" and the "Impression" 3. Impressionism, Truth, and Positivism 4. The Subject/Object Distinction, Critical Evaluation, and Technical Procedure 5. Impressionism and Symbolism as Modes of Artistic Expression Part Two - The Technique of Originality 6. Introduction: Matisse and Origins: Impressionism as "Modernism": Making and Finding 7. Academics and Independents: Theories of Making and Theories of Finding 8. Corot, Monet, Cezanne, and the Technique of Originality 9. Bernard and Denis Meet Cezanne: Classical Tradition without Technical Convention 10. Roger Fry: Found Vision and Made Design Part Three - Seeing Cezanne 11. Introduction: "Postimpressionism" and Expression 12. Cezanne Legend 13. The Poussin Legend 14. Did Cezanne Have a Theory? 15. Cezanne's Practice Part Four - Conclusion: Making a Find Making a Find Notes Index