Fowle, Frances and Richard Thomson (Editors) — Soil and Stone: Impressionism, Urbanism, Environment

Edinburgh, VARIE, 2003. Hardcover. Maroon boards; white lettering. Color-illus. dj with white lettering on maroon spine. xiv + 175 pp. with bw figures throughout, numbered by chapter. Mylar cover. Published to coincide with the exhibition, Monet: The Seine and the Sea, held in Edinburgh in 2003. The contents of the book are conference proceedings published in the VARIE series (Visual Arts Research Institute, Edinburgh) in cooperation with Ashgate Publishing. "The Impressionists are world renowned for their vibrant depictions of the atmospheric effects and shimmering beauty of the French countryside. These paintings, often produced in Paris, found an enthusiastic market in the city. The inhabitants of that hub of modernity had an apparently paradoxical interest in the mythologies of rural living. As the city became more and more the motive force of social change so the country was understood as the anchor of changelessness and nostalgia. The essayists in this volume examine the complex relationship between country and city. Their work draws widely on the contemporary culture exploring folklore and children's literature, anarchism and urbanism, and offers significant new insights into the work of major artists and writers including Courbet, Millet, Monet, Van Gogh and Zola." - From the publisher's web site. NF/NF but art school ex-lib. with usual marks; Mylar cover taped to end papers.