Manet and the American Civil War : The Battle of U. S. S. Kearsarge and the C. S. S. Alabama

by Juliet Wilson-Bareau with David C. Degener

• ISBN13: 9780300099621
• ISBN10: 0300099622
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2003-06-10
• Publisher: Metropolitan Museum of Art

Summary

"On June 19, 1864, the United States warship Kearsarge sank the Confederate raider Alabama off the coast of Cherbourg, France, in one of the most celebrated naval engagements of the American Civil War. When Kearsarge later anchored off the French resort town of Boulogne-sur-Mer it was thronged by curious visitors, one of whom was the artist Edouard Manet. Although he did not witness the historic battle, Manet made a painting of it partly as an attempt to regain the respect of his colleagues after having been ridiculed for his works in the 1864 Salon. Manet's picture of the naval engagement and his portrait of the victorious Kearsarge belong to a group of his seascapes of Boulogne whose unorthodox perspective and composition would profoundly influence the course of French painting." "Manet's paintings and watercolors related to the battle are considered in depth alongside numerous prints, photographs, letters, and archival newspaper illustrations that illuminate the history of the episode and in some cases dispel lingering misconceptions. Manet's other Boulogne seascapes are also discussed in terms of their complex chronology and evolution. A final chapter touches on some of the sources for the seascapes - from Old Master paintings to Japanese woodblock prints - and traces the influence of the seascapes on such artists as Gustave Courbet, James Abbott McNeill Whistler, and Claude Monet."--BOOK JACKET.

Table of Contents

Director's Foreword	p. 6
Sponsor's Statement	p. 7
Acknowledgments	p. 8
Introduction: Manet's Early Experience of the Sea	p. 11
The Naval Engagement	p. 19
The Battle of the "Kearsarge" and the "Alabama"	p. 41
The "Kearsarge" at Boulogne	p. 51
Manet's 1864 Boulogne Seascapes	p. 61
Coda: Sources and Influences	p. 73
Works in the Exhibition	p. 82
Selected Bibliography	p. 85
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