Ok, we’re all more interested in art that has and does emanate from France than we are from, say, Iceland, so before I deliver part two about my recent visit to museums in Iceland, here’s an item about France.
Museyon Guides has just released a travel guidebook called Art + Paris: Impressionists and Post-Impressionists: The Ultimate Guide to Artists, Paintings and Places in Paris and Normandy. It’s a small, useful paperback that includes images of 150 celebrated paintings by the likes of Renoir, Degas, Manet and Monet, along with historical background of their time and some walking tours of Paris and the French countryside areas they depicted.
Art aficionados may not “need” this book — it’s pretty basic — but it does offer information you may want while you travel in one place. And for today’s reader, such as they are, the book offers information in small bites.
For example, for each of the eight main artists in the book, there’s a timeline, reprpductions of his works, and a Did You Know section?
Did you know:
- that van Gogh most respected Monet among the Impressionists?
- that Cezanne was declared a draft dodger?
- that Renoir asked his son for a modest grave, not “too heavy a stone”?
And so on. Next comes guides to the relevant museums (and it’s interesting to see what pictures are pointed out), and finally the feature that are probably most of interest to RCA readers — the walking tours. There are eight in Paris and seven sections on places outside Paris, like Rouen and Giverny.
Art + Paris: Impressionists and Post-Impressionists: The Ultimate Guide to Artists, Paintings and Places in Paris and Normandy doesn’t break new ground, true. But if you don’t think it’s the right book for you, I’d bet one of your friends would love it. And I’m all for spreading the word about art.
Museyon publishes a lot of guides about obsessions, with Art + Travel being one of them.