Bodies of Modernity：Figure and Flesh in Fin-de-Siècle France

Inlate19th-centuryFrance,womenandmenwereseenaspolaropposites:womenwerecreaturesofnatureandemotion,whilemenweretheembodimentofreason,cultureandscience.Employinghistorical,socialandcontextualmaterial,thisbookdocumentshowthesenotionsinfluencedtherepresentationofmenandwomenintheworkofthemostimportantImpressionistartistsoftheperiod:GustaveCaillebotte,JamesTissot,GeorgesSeurat,PierreAugusteRenoirandPaulCezanne.Bytakingfigurepaintingasherfocus,TamarGarbbypassestraditionalarthistoricalaccountsinthisstudyofoneofthebest-lovedperiodsinWesternarthistory.BeginningwithadiscussionofCaillebotte'smalefigures,thebookthenturnstophotographsproducedtopromotethemalebody-buildingmovement.Tissot's"WomenofParis"seriesisacatalogueofcontemporaryimagesofmodernfemininity-decorative,seductive,yettingedwithmenace.AdetailedexaminationofSeurat's"YoungWomanPowderingHerself"discussesthisworkinrelationtocontemporaryviewsofthe"womanatthetoilette",whileRenoir'srejectionofmodernityinfavourofanostalgicfantasyofearthyfemininityisexposedasanimportantstraininmodernistpainting.Finally,theandrogynousfiguresinCezanne'slatebatherpaintingsareshowntobetheleastsecureintheirsexualidentity.Yeteventheseworksrevealtheperiod'sanxiousandrigiddefinitionofsexualdifference.