Summary
Ambroise Vollard: Memoirs of an art dealer
Ambroise Vollard (1866 – 1939) was the most famous art dealer of his time, responsible for the discovery of numerous talented painters, and thus for the discovery of modern art. It is less known that he was also a very talented storyteller, and in these loosely told memories, he describes with great spirit meetings and relationships with numerous famous artists, hidden stories and picturesque anecdotes, as well as visionary analyses. The gallery of artists whose works passed through the famous Vollard gallery in Paris, and about whom he writes here, is truly impressive. To a greater or lesser extent, Renoir, Rodin, Cézanne, Manet, Monet, Rousseau, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Degas, Sisley, Toulouse-Lautrec, Derain, Matisse, Picasso, Rouault, Vlaminck, Daumier, Pissarro, Corot, Bonnard are represented there, and among the writers, let's mention Apollinaire, Jarry, Mirabeau, Mallarmé... From all these film encounters, a life worthy of a novel arose. and urban legends - so vividly, humorously and informatively described in this autobiographical book. And that is exactly what is most interesting about books like this: the presentation of undisputed greats - about whom we usually learn from more or less dry encyclopedia units and textbook entries - in the light of the experiences of those who knew them as real people, as flesh and blood people, with all their virtues and flaws. And that level of interest was not only reached by Vollard, but completely surpassed. That is why the book Memories of an Art Dealer represents a unique testimony of artistic and intellectual life from the beginning of the 20th century and is an indispensable document for any serious analysis of the creation of modern art.
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