Book Description
A comparative study of the French Revolution's most famous artist and a little-known illustrator.

By offering a comparative study of Jacques-Louis David, the most famous artist of the French Revolution, and Jean-Louis Prieur, a little-known illustrator, this book tracks the political careers of the two artists and offers new insights to the relationship between the arts and the politics of the French Revolution. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A wonderful book on the French Revolution
The first part of the editorial review is definitely about another book by Uwe Lajer-Burcharth (Necklines) and is not about this book. Only the second part of the review refers to this book but I disagree that this book is recommended only for libraries. I found this book to be quite an intoxicating read as the other reader reviewer has stated.
Here, Warren Roberts display a very lucid understanding of the chronological events of the French revolution as it unfolded and has written a key account, linking it specifically to the lives of two artists who were inextricably linked up with the key events.
The book is divided into 5 sections. An introduction outlines the situation that France found herself in shortly before the French revolution took place. Then the next section focuses in on the key events of the revolution, linking them up to practically all of the chronological engravings of J Prieur. The true value of this book really is in the 60-odd historical tableaus drawn by Prieur and the marrying of the somewhat confusing chronological events of the French revolution to these tableaus. The author gives a thorough description of each historical tableau within the text, not in the captions, and this is what makes the book so readable. With hindsight, Prieur apparently recorded quite faithfully all the key events iand this contemporary visual evidence is the closest that we have to unbiased visual documentation of the period. The third section gives a very comprehensive essay on Roberspierre and the various factions within the French republic. This is then followed by a section on J.L. David and his accomplishments. Most readers will probably be familiar with David's biography and there are no surprises here. A concluding section brings all the threads together.
The two artists selected and contrasted here are J.L. David and J. Prieur, both Jacobin members and the contrasts in their abilities and fortunes could not have been more dramatic. Both artists worked for the revolution and recorded them, David in a painterly academic style which created the classical movement in art whilst Prieur was an unremarkable jobber, whose 60-odd historical engravings are now housed in the present Carnavalet museum, Paris, and has been rescued from relative obscurity by Roberts in this enlightening and entertaining book. While David survived the revolution, Prieur was beheaded shortly after completing his last scene.
I came away with a good understanding of the French revolution due to the complete empathy that Roberts gives to the period.
The only complaint that I have is that the book is physically quite small and hence, the reproduced engravings are small, too, hence 4 stars.
Highly recommended even for the layperson.

Wow!
As a student of both art and art history, I found Dr. Robert's book intoxicating. From beginning to end this impecccably researched book provides the facts in a stunning and original way. There is no better booktelling the story Of the Revolution and the effect it had on art. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (1)

A FRENCH NEOCLASSIC MASTER
This excellent book published on the occasion of an exhibition
presents two remarkable personalities of this painter - a celebrated and controversial painter of his time and his connection with Napoleon Buonaparte.The second helped him in the way to the admiration , after a revolutionary republican beginning.The first cannot forget a notable draftman and painter,with followers such as Gros , Ingres,Thévenin,...
Even in the exile,his portraits are precious.Connecting or not
one part of his life as official painter of Napoleon, forgetting
or not his revolutionary starting , David remains ,as Stendhal
defended , the greatest painter of 18th century. ... Read more

Book Description
This strikingly original book examines the artistic and personal crisis of French painter Jacques-Louis David during the aftermath of the Reign of Terror. David, twice imprisoned, struggled to recast his artistic identity in a world of disintegrating political and cultural values. The book casts new light on the artist`s self-representations, his Sabine Women, and the importance of his unfinished portrait of Juliette Rcamier. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Interesting ideas, not so interesting read
I have read a number of books on Jacques-Louis David and this book has some of the most unique (bizarre) ideas on David's artwork I have come across.This is not exactly a pleasurable read either.It is a very esoteric work, and unless you can buy a cheap used copy, it is not really worth the high price.If you are interested in it, I suggest checking it out at the library(it is not something you will read twice).The book does provide a good deal of insight into the culture of post-revolutionary France.It is a nice quality book (although with current printing technology all the images should be in color and the book should not be so expensive).After reading the book, I think that a lot of the interpretations of David's art do not have a strong basis and the author is stretching her imagination with what she thinks David's work reveals.

Bizzare freudian hypothesis
The great thing about art commentaries is that just about anything can be written. JL David was, of course, the Revolutionary artist supremo of his day. His arguably most famous paintings were the Oath of the Horatii, the death of Marat, the unfinished Tennis Court oath and of course the Sacre plus numerous historical paintings. What is most telling is David's role in casting the revolution in a masculine manner.
This remarkable book recasts JL David's paintings in a bold new way - he was obseesed with the naked form and really was casting the revolution in a feminine manner, and hence drew and sketched all his figures in the nude, then finishing them as clothed figures. Also, he was acting out his girlish fantasies and some of his figures have an effiminate look to them. Wow!
This line of psychoanalysis is all new to me, the fact that one can project thought patterns on a person's mind 200 years ago just by linking up some letters to some sketches and paintings. Necklines of course refers to the low cut on female clothing, especially his Grecian or Roman-clad women and the fact that David himself came very close to losing his head.
It had never occurred to the author that sketching nude figs was David's usual modus operandi in drawing, as confirmed by other art historians. And his painting of Julie Recamier? The same person was also drawn by Gerard and it looked as if two different persons were depicted. It's debatable as to whether this was a great painting. The patron rejected it anyhow.
I did enjoy the fantasy ride, though. ... Read more

Book Description
This book focuses on Jacques-Louis David's Marat, one of the key works of art created during the period of the French Revolution and one of the most important works of Western painting.Providing an introduction that outlines the general history of the painting, it provides six new essays, each specially written for this volume, which examine the work from a variety of methodologies, including feminist, psychoanalytic and material analysis approaches.Each of these essays provides for a broader and deeper understanding of the painting, the circumstances in which it was created and commissioned, and its critical and art historical reception over two centuries. ... Read more

Book Description
The lifetime of Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825) coincides with the most tumultuous period in the history of France and much of the Western world.And David's life was closely bound up with the changes that were taking place in French politics, society, and culture.Although most other scholars have focused either on David's artistic activity or on his political career, Warren Roberts examines the connections between these two aspects of his life.Using a historical approach, Roberts provides an interpretation of David's art that illuminates David the man.

Roberts presents David's art as a personal record that is an extension of his inner life and a product of historical conditions.David's art, like his character and his actions, cannot be fully understood without understanding the changes that led to and then flowed from the French Revolution.Roberts here considers these changes and their impact on David from the perspectives of the historian and the art historian, and he comes to conclusions that are important for both. ... Read more

Book Description
Jacques-Louis David's brilliant painting of the young lovers Telemachus and Eucharis was created during the artist's last years, when the defeat of Napoleon and the return of the monarchy in France forced him into exile in Brussels. Several of his paintings from this period show his
preoccupation with the psychology of love, but none depicts the emotions of parting more tenderly than this painting from 1818.

Dorothy Johnson discusses how David's political involvement affected his personal life and career, taking him from history painter to revolutionary to living in exile. The effects of these experiences came together at the end of his life in the creation of some of his richest and most complex
works. ... Read more

Book Description
An exciting story of war, love, and art from National Book Award finalist Laban Carrick Hill

* Historical fiction that resonates with our own time
* Appealing blend of romance and action

Napoleon Crossing the Saint Bernard, one of the most famous paintings in Western art, is a piece of war propaganda--for example, Napoleon didn't ride a rearing stallion to cross the river on his campaign; he rode a donkey. Napoleon relied on the artist Jacques-Louis David to polish his public image. The truth behind the propaganda is revealed by acclaimed author Laban Carrick Hill in a compelling story of fifteen-year-old Jean, whose idealistic view of the leader comes under fire when he begins working in David's studio. As he battles with Louis, David's cowardly son, it becomes clear that their fates mirror the course of the French Empire. Blending romance, drama, and history, Napoleon's Sitter is a dynamic addition to the popular Art Encounters series. ... Read more

Book Description

Painted just before the French Revolution, David's Oath of the Horatii radically challenged the long-dominant classicized rococo style by emphasizing the representation of psychological states through the entire body rather than through the face alone. In these revealing essays on David's modernity, Dorothy Johnson examines the aesthetic innovations and ongoing artistic metamorphosis that shaped a career attuned to intellectual as well as political change. Focusing on the painter's writings and on topics such as his life-long experimentation with corporality, his inquiry into the nature of representation, his reinterpretations of mythology, and his application of the theory and language of sculpture to his art, Johnson rejects oversimplified categorizations of David as a neoclassicist and positions him as an important link in the development of romanticism.

Given David's interaction with many of the public figures of his time, including Diderot, Marat, and Napoleon, this book highlights the intellectual content of his paintings throughout his career. Inquiries into the transformation of matter, the evolution of the species, the identification and exploration of the stages in the formation of the self, the psychology of myth, the biological model of the waxing and waning of civilizations, and the organicity of history all parallel and inform David's approach to the making of art and his view of himself as an artist in the continuum of history.

Book Description
This digital document is an article from Kliatt, published by Thomson Gale on January 1, 2007. The length of the article is 491 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Hill, Laban Carrick. A brush with Napoleon; an encounter with Jacques-Louis David.(Young adult review)(Book review)
Author: Claire Rosser
Publication: Kliatt (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 1, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 41Issue: 1Page: 12(1)

Article Type: Book review, Young adult review

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more