Framing France : Essays on the Representation of Landscape in France, 1870-1914

This collection of essays explores the subject of lansdscape painting in France between 1870 and 1914.

The contributors throw light on how representing the land acted as vehicle for developing modern styles of painting, conveyed ideas about contemporary society, and was used by artists to mould the image of themselves.

Landscape painting was a battleground, fought over by avant-garde and conservative artists, as well as the left and right in French politics.

An image of the French countryside in a radical style could convey traditional values and vice versa. From impressionism to cubism, via artists as celebrated as Monet, Van Gogh and Cezanne as well as Maurice Denis, Henri Martin and Roger de la Fresnaye, these essays argue for the central place of landscape painting in the development of modern art in France.