Thomas Couture and the Eclectic Vision (1980)

In his time Thomas Couture (1815–79) was probably the most influential painter in Europe. His work was widely admired and discussed, and he attracted pupils and followers from all over Europe and America as well. He was the teacher of, and the primary influence on, both Manet and Puvis de Chavannes, who incarnate the naturalist and symbolist polarities of modern art. However, because his own work is neither impressionist nor academic, he tends to be overlooked in discussions of nineteenth-century art. Since he typifies a major group of artists in the period his absence seriously distorts the historical accounts of the last century. Albert Boime sets out to rectify this neglect, arguing that only through a careful examination of a figure like Couture who steered a middle course between the Academy and the avant-garde can we obtain a more authentic picture of the historical forces and artistic impulses of the time.

Boime’s highly original and ambitious study clearly reestablishes Couture as a major contributor to the development of modern art. By examining in depth the personal, social and political origins of Couture’s eclectic approach, Boime is able to explore exceedingly important ideas about the nature of art and to begin to reinterpret the history of nineteenth-century European and American art from a wholly new standpoint.

Includes a loosely inserted, typed review of the book by noted art historian Benedict Reid.

Condition: some light wear to dust-wrapper, otherwise very good.