Nineteenth Century European Art - Book Review

Petra ten-Doesschate Chu Prentice-Hall Inc. and Harry N. Abrams Inc., 2003, ISBN 0 81093 588 0, $75 (cloth)

The publication of this new comprehensive survey of nineteenth-century art has been awaited with eager anticipation, because existing texts are either hopelessly outdated or present the material in a manner that has prevented their effective use by a large, general public. Although no survey text in print can be considered perfect, for a number of reasons Petra Chu's Nineteenth Century European Art comes closer to fulfilling such high standards than any of its rivals.

By moving backwards in time--most survey texts on the nineteenth century start with the French Revolution--she has expanded the parameters of the nineteenth century. Furthermore, by acknowledging the complexity of the eighteenth century--with its call for a 'new art'--Professor Chu, who teaches at Seton Hall University, has provided a substantial context for the appearance of the classical paradigm in the works of Jacques-Louis David, among many others. Through a careful elucidation of the range of classical achievements, she stresses the ways in which this movement achieved popularisation at a moment when the world was beginning to face massive political upheavals. It is with this substantial foundation that Professor Chu moves forward in her pursuit of clearly demarcated units of time, and history that can be easily applied to classroom situations, or which simply provides a cohesive organisation so that a general reader can follow artistic changes easily.

As the text moves forward, there are a number of unusual surprises. A section on British art of the late Georgian period provides a good way of introducing the aesthetic theories of the Sublime and the ways in which the paintings of Henry Fuseli and William Blake provide a foundation for the early romantic interests of the nineteenth century. Additional sections on the making of art in support of propaganda, or the ways in which Napoleon dominated the artists working for him, provide significant insights into which artworks were used to promote official policies of the state. In all these cases, Professor Chu provides ample evidence for her interpretations and a solid reading of significant images, some well known, others less celebrated favourites of the author's. Along the way the reader is often assisted in the text by the appearance of side bars that recapitulate major events of the French Revolution, for example, thereby making it easier for readers to grasp complex and sudden shifts in governmental policies or personalities. Similarly, a portrait of Marie Antoinette by Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun, for example, can be used to explain court policies and the emerging revolution.

Dr. Chu's expertise on the July Monarchy has made it possible for her to elucidate intricacies--above all during the era of the citizen King Louis Philippe (1830-48)--in a more than cursory way. By using a wide range of paintings and prints produced within this eighteen-year span, the author has been able to create a substantial and clear image of the emergence of a popular culture that affected the way people responded to lithographic media and the press. She makes it apparent, through her contextualisation of the issues around the 1848 Revolution, why people rebelled and how the nature of artistic imagery was deeply affected by the tenor of the times. The criticism of the government found in Honor Daumier's lithographs, and especially in his Gargantua (1831), bears witness to their creator's engagement with the social abuses of a regime that left the poor to fend for themselves. When realism is introduced as a new way of recording the world, and the canvases of Gustave Courbet become dominant, they emerge in the text as a historical certainty and a visual necessity that owed much to the turbulence of the July Monarchy.

Undoubtedly, it is the way in which the theme of progress is used throughout the book that makes it possible for a reader to understand how the century became so dynamic. With the search for new media, and the utilisation of experimentation in the visual arts as its hallmark, it is significant that an overarching interest in public exhibitions as a way of embracing change and technology became so dominant. What this text so admirably achieves--especially in later sections--is to demonstrate how national pride and international rivalry were effectively channelled. By the time of the World's Fairs of 1889 and 1900, all areas of the visual arts were no longer isolated from one another; they had been blended together to create a new art that was seemingly universal during the era of Art Nouveau. In moving from one artistic centre to another, from Barcelona and Gaudf to Glasgow and Mackintosh--the book achieves an international rhythm that establishes an effectively informed tone.

The book also reveals a full awareness of the historical debates of the last twenty years or more. By integrating academic stars--such as Jean-Leon Gerome or Jules Breton--within the era of the Second Empire that saw the innovations of Edouard Manet, Chu succeeds in striking a careful historical balance. She integrates the progressive with the conservative in order to demonstrate how the world of art really was. This same careful balance informs later sections, when the French avant-garde of the 1880s--Seurat, van Gogh, Gauguin, and so on--is posed against the more dominant and widely practiced academic naturalism that valued photographic exactitude above all. By presenting Jules Bastien-Lepage and P.A.J. Dagnan-Bouveret as major figures in their day, Professor Chu achieves an equilibrium in her analysis of the artistic framework of the era that can only be applauded.

The range of historical discourse is above reproach, as is the way in which the author discusses various individual artists or groups. By situating creators in their era, by explaining the ways in which society changed, and by demonstrating that all countries were striving to create a presence in the world of the visual arts, Chu demonstrates the effectiveness of an art for all nations. Is the book, then, without flaws? A second edition should pay closer attention to the illustrations: some of the black and white photos lack clarity, and some of the colour plates need finer toning. There might also be a need to rethink the choice of certain images which are not as well known as they should be. Nevertheless, the careful integration of visual images with a stylishly written text provides a concise, clear, well-articulated approach to a very difficult and complex era. What is more, this volume will prove to be of lasting importance in the classroom, where it should immediately supplant other, more ideological or less cohesively argued rivals. Finally, and this needs to be stressed, the book provides the average reader with an incisive and easy way to grasp the history of a period that has shown itself to be extremely popular to museum goers and interested citizens. This is no small achievement, and suggests that this volume will be in constant use and continually reprinted for years to come.

COPYRIGHT 2003 Apollo Magazine Ltd.
COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group