Jean-Leon Gerome (1824-1904) was an undisputed success during his life. Crowds flocked to see his vibrant compositions and thanks to mass marketing of his work through mechanical reproduction, he reached audiences on an unprecedented scale. Despite Gerome's undisputed accomplishments, his success met with critical hostility. Emile Zola, champion of Edouard Manet, dismissed Gerome as a cynical manufacturer of anecdotal images for popular consumption - a critique repeatedly levelled at artists in the years since. In light of revisionist and postmodern trends over the past four decades, however, Gerome's work is now being approached with unprecedented seriousness and refreshing candour. The ten essays in this volume go far in challenging critical biases against the artist and indeed suggest that we are just beginning to learn how to 'read' Gerome's paintings in their full complexity.

About the Author
Scott Allan is assistant curator in the Dept of paintings at the J. Paul Getty Museum. Mary Morton is curator of French painting at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.


Book Information
ISBN 9781606060384
Author . Allan
Format Paperback
Page Count 168
Imprint Getty Publications
Publisher Getty Trust Publications
Weight(grams) 356g
Dimensions(mm) 242mm * 142mm * 13mm