Modern Languages: French Architecture, Art and Literature

"The early 19th century was among the most exciting and dramatic of political and artistic eras in French history. During the French Revolution and its aftermath, as painters and sculptors were employed as weapons of propaganda, Paris became the artistic capital of Europe. In this unique treatment of this extraordinary period, more than 300 in-depth biographies examine the lives and works of those who brought Neo-classicism to its heights and those who rebelled against this academic ideal with the birth of Romanticism, from David and Ingres to Delacroix and Gericault.

In The Work of Art, Anthea Callen analyzes the self-portraits, portraits of fellow artists, photographs, prints, and studio images of prominent nineteenth-century French Impressionist painters, exploring the emergence of modern artistic identity and its relation to the idea of creative work. Landscape painting in general, she argues, and the "plein air” oil sketch in particular were the key drivers of change in artistic practice in the nineteenth century--leading to the Impressionist revolution.            

A vivid and poignant account of the struggle of French writers and artists to endure and combat the German occupation that threatened their cultural heritage The German occupation of France from 1940 to 1945 presented wrenching challenges for the nation's artists and intellectuals. Some were able to flee the country; those who remained--including Gide and Céline, Picasso and Matisse, Cortot and Messiaen, and Cocteau and Gabin--responded in various ways. This fascinating book is the first to provide a full account of how France's artistic leaders coped under the crushing German presence.

This is an English-language study on the architecture and art of medieval France of the Romanesque and Gothic periods between 1000-1500. In addition to essays on individual monuments there are general discussions of given periods and specific problems such as: why did Gothic come into being? Whitney Stoddard explores the interrelationship between all forms of medieval ecclesiastical art and characterization of the Gothic cathedral, which he believes to have an almost metaphysical basis.

This study of 16th- and 17th-century French art and architecture, presents major artists and their works chronologically. The author provides an overview of the main projects of the period and of the artistic personalities behind them, and sets the historical context.

Le Corbusier is probably the most famous architect of the 20th century. The richness and variety of his work and his passionately expressed philosopy of architecture have had a gigantic impact on the urban fabric and the way we live. Weaving through his long and prolific life are certain recurrent themes -- his perennial drive towards new types of dwelling, from the early white villas to the UnitE d'Habitation at Marseilles; his evolving concepts of urban form, including Plan Voisin of 1925 with its cruciform towers imposed on the city of Paris, and his work at Chandigarh in India; and his belief in a new technocratic order. The distinguished critic and historian Kenneth Frampton re-examines all these facets of his artistic and philosophical world-view in light of recent thinking, and presents us with a Le Corbusier for the 21st century.

Victor Hugo was the most important writer of the nineteenth century in France: leader of the Romantic movement; revolutionary playwright; poet; epic novelist; author of the last universally accessible masterpieces in the European tradition, among them Les Misérables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. He was also a radical political thinker and eventual exile from France; a gifted painter and architect; a visionary who conversed with Virgil, Shakespeare, and Jesus Christ; in short, a tantalizing personality who dominated and maddened his contemporaries.

Biography of Voltaire

An analysis of how novels represent the crisis in "family values" in late nineteenth-century France.

In seventeenth-century France, a daring young man defends the queen's honor and tests his skills against the best swordsmen of the day D'Artagnan journeys to Paris armed with nothing but his sword, his courage, and a burning desire to prove his mettle as a member of King Louis XIII's elite guardsmen. A swashbuckling corps of gentlemen rogues, the Musketeers live to antagonize Cardinal Richelieu and sweep every woman in France off her feet. Before d'Artagnan can join their ranks, however, he must distinguish himself on the field of battle.   On his first day in the capital, d'Artagnan accidentally offends the honor of three dashing Musketeers--Athos, Porthos, and Aramis--and agrees to duel each one in turn. But before they can match steel, the combatants are interrupted by the cardinal's guards, embroiling d'Artagnan in complex affairs of state, dangerous court intrigues, and a sinister battle against the wily and seductive spy Milady de Winter.   A richly detailed historical novel and one of the greatest adventure stories ever told, The Three Musketeers is a masterwork of Western literature.   This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices. 

Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880) is widely regarded as one of the world's greatest novelists, and his work continues to influence and inspire contemporary writers, artists, and musicians. Flaubert was determined from a young age to become a writer and achieved sudden fame in 1857 when his first published novel, Madame Bovary, resulted in an unsuccessful prosecution for obscenity. In his subsequent work--including the carefully researched Carthaginian novel, Salammbô, the contemporary Parisian novel Sentimental Education, the obsessively reworked Temptation of St. Anthony, and the unfinished comic masterpiece, Bouvard and Pécuchet--Flaubert continued to reflect on the human condition and on the rapidly changing society of his time, while constantly striving for new forms of literary and stylistic perfection. In this new critical biography, Anne Green draws on Flaubert's voluminous correspondence and unpublished manuscripts to reveal the extent to which his writing was haunted by traumatic early experiences. She weaves discussion of his work into an intimate account of Flaubert's life and volatile character, following him from his childhood in Rouen to his student days in Paris, from his extensive travels through North Africa to the imperial court of Napoleon III. Green pays special attention to Flaubert's close family relationships, love-affairs, and friendships with literary figures, including Turgenev, Sand, Zola, Maupassant, and the Goncourt brothers. This concise and informative biography is a must-read for lovers of literature everywhere.

This magnificent volume provides a complete history of the literature of France from its origins to the present day, taking us beyond traditional definitions of 'literature' into the world of the best-seller and, beyond words, to graphic fiction and cinema Presents a definitive history of the literature of France from its origins to the present day. Incorporates coverage of Francophone writing in Europe, Canada, the West Indies and North and Sub-Saharan Africa. Links the development of literature to the mentalities and social conditions which produced it. Takes us beyond "literature" to study graphic fiction, cinema and the bestseller. Maps the rise of the Intellectual, and in so doing charts a progression from literary doctrine to critical theory.