A print can sometimes tell us more than a painting about the history of art. Michel Melot illustrates his thesis in this book, analysing relationships between artists, the art market, the critics, collectors and political institutions. This fresh approach reveals Impressionism not as a sort of miracle, but as a response to economic and social upheaval. This original view of a key movement in the history of art allows the reader to understand its decisive effect on all the subsequent generations who have contributed to maintaining the tradition of the belle epreuve.

Offers a broad and vivid overview of the culture of collecting in France over the long nineteenth-century.