Product Description

Published to accompany a retrospective of his work at Grand Palais in Paris from September 1997 and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, from March 1998, this volume examines 60 paintings and 100 works on paper by the French court painter and draughtsman, Pierre-Paul Prud'hon (1758-1823). The illustrations have individual commentaries. A contemporary of Jacques-Louis David, Prud'hon won acclaim during the years spanning the French Revolution, the Empire and the Restoration for his graceful paintings of allegorical and mythological subjects and for his handsome portraits. His strong connections with the upper echelons of French government can be seen in his portraits of such figures as Talleyrand and the Empress Josephine. His nudes and other drawings, made from live models, are among the treasures of 19th-century academic art.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #474166 in Books
• Published on: 1998-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 344 pages

From Library Journal
In an age of great painters like David, Gericault, and Delacroix, Pierre-Paul Prud'hon's (1758-1823) anomalous genius seems to stand slightly apart and below. A romantic Neoclassicist and a proto-Romantic classicist, the French master could boast a considerable achievement, amply expatiated and reverently documented in this handsome exhibition catalog by Laveissiere, who is compiling the catalogue raisonne on Prud'hon. While every aspect of the artist's creative range is given its due, his complex allegorical compositions and his extraordinarily accomplished and justly famous nude academies will continue to garner the greatest appreciation. Not slighted, however, is his genuine achievement as illustrator and painter of portraits and mythologies. Collections with an interest in this critical art historical moment will wish to acquire this now-fundamental volume.?Robert Cahn, Fashion Inst. of Technology, New York
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

A must have for Prud'hon fans
If you're a Prud'hon fan, this is a wonderful book that you should add to your collection. I've owned 2 copies of this book for years and find that I pull one out frequently. The visual contents include paintings ranging from his very early works to his final paintings, giving you a good idea of this man's talent. The text is entertaining and enlightening.

In contrast to the other review written here, I couldn't disagree more with the assessment that if you're interested in his drawings don't buy this book. While it's true that there's more space (text, pictures) dedicated to paintings, there's a wonderful section on his academic drawings, and his other drawings - preparatory, illustrations, and those for engravings - are literally everywhere throughout the book! The other reviewer must have been reviewing a different book or not understood what he/she was seeing; either way the comments are unfortunately misleading.

Another correction to the first review is that most of Prud'hon's drawings - finished or otherwise - were not executed in charcoal; they were done in black and white chalk. This is an important distinction to artists, which I can only assume the other reviewer is not.

In summary, this is a beautiful book is one of my favorites and may become one of yours too. I hope that this review corrects some of the misstatements made by the previous reviewer which may have caused interested people not to purchase it. Highly recommended!

Pierre-Paul Prud'hon presented by the N.Y. Met.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art has put together a fine and thorough catalog of Prud'hon's studies and finished works of both charcoal drawings and paintings. This book is not only great for visual references but also complete in text explaining the purpose of each work and where Prud'hon was in his life at the time. If however, you are looking for emphasis on his drawings, I wouldn't recommend this book because though the drawings are in it, they are reduced with more emphasis on the text and so make up only a small portion of the entire book.