Manet, Monet, and the Gare Saint-Lazare /

The title leads one to presume this catalog accompanied a limited exhibition. However, freelance curator Wilson-Bareau has widened the scope through consideration of adjoining areas, including the Pont de l'Europe (memorialized by Caillebotte). Since Manet had recently moved into a new studio, its location and layout are similarly included. Also included is symbolist poet Mallarme, frequent visitor to the new atelier, and Victorine Meurent, Manet's model in his version of Gare Saint-Lazare. Wilson-Bareau covers well-trodden ground with her discussion of the lives of artists following the Franco-Prussian war and the Commune. The railway as a symbol of the dual nature of the industrial revolution ("modern" and oppressive) is similarly well known. Closer to being novel (if not truly original) is the author's investigation of the degree of topographical accuracy achieved or denied in works by Manet and the Impressionists. Maps and photographs are painstakingly compared with drawings and paintings used in the exhibition. The material is certainly better suited for an exhibition than publication. Nevertheless, the general reader will no doubt be attracted to the notion of walking Parisian streets and glimpsing inside Manet's studio. General readers. E. K. Menon; Mankato State University