The Impressionists' Paris

"No style of painting conjures up the charm and grace of 19th-century Paris more than Impressionism", begins the introduction to The Impressionists' Paris, evoking images of Parisians chatting in cafés before retiring, brush in hand, to the studio. Reactions to their "bold new style" were, in their day, often hostile; today, their works are almost universally admired. But while the paintings themselves hang preserved on museum walls, the sites where the painters set up their easels are easily forgotten.

The Batignolles Group--which included Renoir, Monet and Degas--inhabited a surprisingly small area of Paris, mostly living and dying in the same district, posing for one another and helping to pay each other's rent. After introducing the artists and outlining their city's history, The Impressionist's Paris outlines a tour of their local haunts, including the studios in which they worked, the buildings where they lived and the cafés in which they gathered. The three walks show the city's four distinct "faces", including the historic, the commercial and the bohemian. Maps, postcards and reproduced paintings further enhance this handsome little hardback companion to a walking tour of Impressionist Paris. --Daren King

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c'est incroyable! - Rated
If you love Paris and the Impressionists' work this is a must have. Taking the walking tours was the highlight of my last trip to the city of lights. Williams helps you see through 100 years of change into a different Paris.

A mirror image of the artists view - Rated
I think my students will love traveling in the footsteps of the impressionists. Seeing what the artists saw is worth a 1000 words in explaining they why of the subject painted.