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A fragile modernism: Whistler and his Impressionist followers
Review

A fragile modernism: Whistler and his Impressionist followers

D E Gliem
Choice, Vol.45(12), p.2143
08/01/2008

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Whistler, James McNeill (1834-1903) Robins, Anna Gruetzner Nonfiction Impressionism Book reviews Modernism Visual artists
This book has a shaky beginning but ends having regained its footing. In chapter 1, "Framing Whistler's Impressionism," Robins (Univ. of Reading, UK) analyzes Whistler's landscapes in light of Hermann Ludwig von Helmholtz's theories on vision and perception. Though an apt approach to explaining Whistler's pictures, Robin's treatment of Helmholtz is far too cursory, and her analyses of the works are sometimes at odds with the visual evidence in the pictures.

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