Description: "Highly influential, and - as this book shows - also politically engaged, the art of the Nabis (1888-1900) lay the groundwork for the transition from impressionism to modernism in French art. This ground-breaking book is the first to address the feminine and feminist politics of domesticity in the Intimiste art of âEdouard Vuillard and the Nabis. Personal in motif and decorative in form, Francesca Berry's extensive historical research and skilled visual analysis reveal the social and political, sometimes even feminist, meanings of these artworks. Transcending the structural repression of domesticity in histories of modernist art, this book powerfully overturns residual myths of aesthetic introspection and social retreat that for too long have been attached to Nabi Synthetism"--
Brief description: Francesca Berry is Associate Professor of History of Art at University of Birmingham, UK. She is an expert in the art, visual culture and design of domesticity and the interior in France 1850-1940 and has published extensively in this field.
Review Quotes:
"This thought-provoking and timely book sheds new light not only on Vuillard, but on the role of politics in the art of the Nabis. Richly illustrated and ambitious in scope and depth, it marks an exciting way forward for feminist interpretations of modernity." --Claire Moran, Reader in French Studies, Queen' s University Belfast, UK
"Berry plots a masterful feminist analysis of Vuillard's representations of "feminine domesticity." Training her sharp eye on the images' complex material layers, she reveals his equally complex engagement with social and political contexts. Impeccably researched, this book will quickly become indispensable." --Marni Kessler, Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, Kress Foundation Department of Art History, University of Kansas, USA "Berry's sustained engagement with the complex discourses surrounding domesticity and femininity greatly enrich our understanding of Vuillard's avant-garde project. In five deeply researched chapters, Berry exposes an overlooked side of the artist and his oeuvre, and offers new methodologies towards a more inclusive art history. It is a bold and dazzling contribution to the Nabi literature." --Mary Weaver Chapin, Curator of Prints and Drawings, Portland Art Museum, Oregon, USA "With its thrilling feminist analyses of the often-disquieting art of Vuillard and the Nabis, Berry's book reveals the surprisingly modern politics at play in artworks dependent on women's labour and at times radically collaborative...a powerful contribution to art's feminist histories." --Allison Morehead, Professor of Art History, Queen's University, Canada