Sue Roe: The private lives of the impressionists, 

Harper Perennial, now out of print, only the hardback edition is available,  

German Edition:  Sue Roe: Das private Leben der Impressionisten,  Parthas Berlin

“The private lives of the Impressionists” has been sitting on my book pile for quite some time.  I bought it at the Chicago Art Institute’s bookshop during one my  visits a few years ago; the paperback was issued in 2007. My work then demanded reading many other manuscripts and books and therefore this copy sat unread until this summer. Meanwhile this paperback edition I purchased can only be found in second hand bookstores but the bound edition seems to be still available.  A German edition is also available.

Everyone who knows me is aware of my passion for Art; the Impressionists without a doubt have produced some of the most breathtaking paintings and sketches the world has ever seen.  Their biographies vividly described reads like fiction.  Sue Roe’s incredibly detailed research into the lives of Manet, Monet, Pisaaro, Cezanne, Caillebotte, Renoir, Degas, Sisley, Berthe Morisot and Mary Cassatt makes this book an entertaining,  fascinating read, digging deeply into  their personal history and that as a group.

The artistic struggles and poverty most of them had to endure in order to pursue their vision of painting sits in stark contrast to the prices their work fetches in auctions today. Their mistresses and wives hardly knew how to feed their families most of the time,  making moving outside of Paris a necessity because rent could no longer be paid for Parisian apartments and studios, a bizarre situation considering the riches people accumulate today with their paintings. 

Some came from more wealthy backgrounds like Mary Cassatt (the only US artist in the group) , Manet or Caillebotte who often supported their more poverty stricken fellow painters such as Cezanne or Monet in buying their work or lending money unconditionally. The artistic ridicule they had to face when presenting their paintings before the French public is inconceivable today. Cezanne in particular was considered talentless!  Had it not been for the art dealer Durand-Ruel who was later responsible for arranging the first impressionist show in the US and succeeding in securing higher prices in Europe for their work, many would have had to abandon painting or starved to death. Durand-Ruel narrowly escaped his own financial ruin several times but continued to believe in the artists and extend loans for work that had yet to be sold guaranteeing painters like Monet that they could feed their families and carry on painting.

I knew already quite a bit about the Impressionists but I feel so much more informed now about the private backgrounds of these fascinating individuals and also about French history of the 19^th century that I had simply forgotten.