Paris in Ruins: Love, War and the Birth of Impressionism by Sebastian Smee is a well-researched account of France from the reign of Napoleon III through the end of his empire, the Franco-Prussian War he had provoked, the radical socialist “Commune” that followed, and, finally, the establishment of a calmer republic that lasted into the 20^th century. Woven through the history and politics is the story of a rebellious group of artists and intellectuals seeking to wrest power from the grip of conservative guardians of artistic standards. The non-conformists shared the republicans’ goals of a more liberal form of government, but, as significantly perhaps, they were intent on breaking loose from the Academie des Beaux Arts’ official Salon de Paris’ steely control determining what was praiseworthy art.

In addition to art history, political history, and biography, Smee focuses on military history, especially the civil war in France right after defeat by the Germans. Almost to a fault, Smee chronicles every aspect of the street-to-street fighting between Communards and republicans, most notably the so-called Bloody Week.

Out of the post-war rubble and the near wasteland of what had been the world’s most cultured and beautiful city would arise a new art form, Impressionism. The paintings did not reflect the horrors of the war. Nor did they conform to their predecessors’ preoccupation with themes from religion, mythology or ancient history. At the center of the movement were Edouard Manet and Edgar Degas, very different in personalities but determined to innovate in the subjects and styles of their paintings.  Their works, along with those of luminaries like Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, Paul Cezanne, and Camille Pissarro, were filled with light and often exuberance, and focused on the bourgeoisie as well as what we now call working class – people at leisure, people on the job.

A key figure in Smee’s remarkable book is artist Berthe Morisot.  She was in love with Manet but, as he was already married, had to settle for one of his two brothers, Eugene. Smee calls her “the century’s great painter-poet of ‘transcience value.’” Her paintings, which reach out to capture fleeting moments,  are elegant and often intimate, frequently of her sister Edma and domestic life. Smee captures their lightness and their loveliness, down to the brush stroke. It’s here that the author especially shines, describing the artists’ creative processes, their struggles, and their impacts against the backdrop of the social and political history of their times.  If you love Paris, if you are taken with the Impressionists and art in general, this book will be a rich experience for you, one totally worth your time.

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