Painted love : prostitution in French art of the impressionist era /

Clayson deals with an important and fascinating topic the image of the prostitute in late 19th-century French painting. Societal conditions produced by the industrial revolution forced many poor working-class women of the 19th-century to turn to prostitution for their economic survival. This rise in prostitution was frequently interpreted as a threat to the moral structure of the bourgeois family and thus became a political issue. The author, a student of T.J. Clark (The Painting of Modern Life: Paris in the Art of Manet and his Followers, CH, Jun'85), delves further into some of the topics so tantalizingly presented by her mentor. While focusing on such major figures as Degas and Renoir, she discusses their paintings in the context of works by lesser-known artists such as Eva Gonzales and Henri Gervex. Her examination of these artists is built on a feminist-Marxist foundation and is polemic in tone. The text is amply illustrated with 93 illustrations, most in black and white, which are well chosen and present some interesting and little-known works by well-known artists including Manet and Cezanne, as well as works by artists popular in the 19th century but unfamiliar today. There is a useful bibliography and helpful index. Both undergraduate and graduate students in the humanities could benefit from this book.-E. Kosmer, Worcester State College

As prostitution escalated in 19th-century Paris, it likewise appeared more frequently as a subject in French literature and art. Clayson (art history, Northwestern) reasons that there is a ``connection between, on the one hand, covert prostitution as subject matter and, on the other, evasiveness as narrational strategy among artists who operated within Impressionist circles during the 1870s and 1880s.'' Her unique, often complex, study analyzes the male artists' ``contradictory dialectic of disgust and fascination'' toward their female subjects. Clayson claims that their ``ambiguous depictions served to reinforce'' lowly female stereotypes. Amusing caricatures, extensive documentation, and good reproductions of Cezanne's Olympia series, Degas's monotypes of brothel scenes, and Manet's Nana support Clayson's feminist perceptions, adding new meaning to rather familiar artworks. Recommended for large art history and women's study collections.--Joan Levin, MLS, Chicago (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.