Paris in Ruins: The Siege, the Commune and the Birth of Impressionism

by Sebastian Smee

ISBN: 9781836430797

Published: 2025-10-09

Pulitzer-winner Sebastian Smee relives the remarkable birth of Impressionism from the ashes of war 'Enjoyable... a fine portrait not only of impressionism but the society that made it possible' THE SUNDAY TIMES Paris, January 1871 - the final, agonising days of the Franco-Prussian War. As the German army cements its advantage, shells rattle through the Left Bank. It is a bitterly cold winter; there is no fuel, no medicine, no food. The city's poorer citizens have long turned to eating rats, cats and dogs. France has been brought to its knees. Édouard Manet, Berthe Morisot, and Edgar Degas are trapped in the besieged city. Renoir and Bazille have joined regiments outside of Paris, while Monet and Pissarro fled the country just in time. Out of the Siege and the Commune, these artists developed a newfound sense of the fragility of life. A feeling for transience - reflected in Impressionism's emphasis on fugitive light, shifting seasons, glimpsed street scenes, and the impermanence of...