This handsome publication, which accompanies a major exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, is a lively and engaging account of the artistic scene in Paris in the 1860s, the years that witnessed the beginnings of Impressionism.

For the first time the interactions and relationships among the group of painters who became known as the Impressionists are examined without the overworn art historical polarities commonly evoked: academic versus avant-garde, classicist versus romantic, realist versus impressionist. A host of strong personalities contributed to this history, and their style evolved into a new way of looking at the world. These artists wanted above all to give an impression of truth and to have an impact on or even to shock the public. And they wanted to measure up to or surpass their elders.

This complex and rich environment is presented here - the grand old men and the young turks encounter each other, the Salon pontificates, and the new generation moves fitfully ahead, benignly but always with determination. Origins of Impressionism gives a day-by-day, year-by-year study of the genesis of an epoch-making style.

Bibliographies and provenances are provided for each of the almost two hundred works in the exhibition, and there is an illustrated chronology. With more than two hundred superb colorplates, this informative survey is an essential work for both the general reader and the scholar.