Painted
Love: Prostitution in French Art of the
Impressionist Era
by Hollis Clayson
Getty Trust Publications, Los Angeles,
2003
202 pp., illus. 64 b/w, 29 col. Trade,
$24.95; paper (Yale, 1991)
ISBN 0-89236-729-6.
Reviewed by Wilfred Niels Arnold
warnold@kumc.edu
The sketchbooks of visual artists are
often of considerable interest in revealing
evolutions into final drawings or paintings.
They may also expose more spontaneous
sides, date novel views, and offer clues
to individual professional developments.
The same is true for preliminary paintings,
unfinished works, and things that fall
behind the piano. But some of us worry
a bit about the extent of posthumous interpretation
that these artists would have wished and,
given the opportunity, whether they would
have preferred tossing out immature or
unsuccessful creations. Not so Hollis
Clayson, who seems to have assembled under
one cover everything she foundshe
gives Degas, Cezanne, and Manet particularly
exotic trips.
In several cases the themes and goals
behind the art are more ambiguous than
Painted Love would have us believe.
For example, the story behind Cazanne's
A Modern Olympia, his attempt to
impress Dr. Paul Gachet by whipping off
a match to Manet's Olympia, is
not properly developed. I was disappointed
in the lack of definition of the title
subjects and came away wondering if some
of the images were really of prostitution
as claimed, or rather of something more
flirtatious and less commercial. Readers
who might reasonably expect some comparisons
(visual or narrative) with "wholesome
painted love" (for the same era in Paris,
or from London) will search in vain.
Although the title gives great weight
to the Impressionists, the coverage is
not restricted to this less than homogeneous
group, or to their era. Manet, who is
featured on the cover, has a special relationship
to the Impressionists that is not properly
explained. Likewise, the Post-Impressionists
should at least have been identified as
such. Including Pablo Picasso is a bit
much, especially since Toulouse-Lautrec
is mentioned en passant as early
as page three but never illustrated.
In general, the paper and print quality
are quite reasonable. The number of color
plates is a bit mean and some editorial
decisions such as a black and white for
Manet's Olympia are hard to fathom.
The index concentrates on names and neglects
subjectsa quick survey found many
omissions. This is a picture book with
a titillating title that will find its
way to more coffee tables than desks.