Paris in Ruins: Love, War, and the Birth of Impressionism

Paris in Ruins: Love, War, and the Birth of Impressionism (2024) is a work of nonfiction by art critic Sebastian Smee. The book explores how the “Terrible Year” of 1870 to 1871 in Paris, France, impacted the painters Berthe Morisot, Édouard Manet, and others in their circle. Smee describes the events of the siege of Paris by the Prussians during the War of 1870 and the Paris Commune uprising of 1871. Using personal correspondence, colorful anecdotes, and detailed descriptions of artwork, Smee argues that Impressionism can be understood with reference to the events of that turbulent year. Smee focuses on the complex relationship, both personal and artistic, between Berthe Morisot and Édouard Manet during this time to paint a picture of French art and life during the 1870s. Sebastian Smee is a Pulitzer-Prize winning art critic and the author of The Art of Rivalry: Four Friendships, Betrayals and Breakthroughs in Modern Art (2016).

This guide uses the 2024 Norton hardcover edition of Paris in Ruins.

Note: Following the author’s usage in the source text, Édouard Manet and Berthe Morisot are often referred to by their first names.

Content Warning: The source material features depictions of wartime violence and death.

Summary

The Prologue of Paris in Ruins opens with an anecdote that introduces life in Paris during the siege of 1870. Renowned photographer and balloon enthusiast Nadar arranged for balloon flights to get mail—and people—out of the city of Paris, which was surrounded by Prussian troops. He went to the house of legendary writer Victor Hugo to collect Hugo’s mail to be posted by balloon. Hugo then watched as republican lawyer Léon Gambetta climbed into the balloon to be carried out of the city. Smee describes what Gambetta would have seen as the balloon drifted out of the city at altitude: The patchwork tapestry of French farmland and the hostile Prussian troops surrounding the city.

In Part 1: “Salon of 1869,” Smee introduces his principle figures: Berthe Morisot and Édouard Manet. He describes Manet’s iconic painting The Balcony and its history. The painting depicts Berthe Morisot. It was one of the first paintings Manet made of Morisot during their many years of friendship. The painting was shown at the Paris Salon of 1869, the official annual art exhibition in France. The Salon was representative of the conservative political establishment that Manet and his circle of painters, most of whom were republicans, were hoping to break away from, in part because of their disdain for Emperor Napoleon III and his regime’s connection to the Salon system.

Berthe Morisot and Édouard Manet came from similar wealthy backgrounds and were both seen as talented painters at that time; they regularly showed works in the annual Salons. Berthe was very close with her sister, Edma, who was also a talented painter. Berthe was unmarried and lived at home with her parents in Paris. Édouard was married to a Dutchwoman named Suzanne, and together they had one child. Morisot and Manet were introduced by a mutual friend in 1869 and quickly became close. They were both part of a wide circle of writers and artists who hoped to break the mold of conventional, classical French painting by using novel, daring techniques. One painter in their circle was Frédéric Bazille, whose outdoor (rather than studio) portraits inspired Berthe to attempt similar techniques.

In Part 2: “The Siege of Paris,” Smee describes the War of 1870 with Prussia and the four-month siege of Paris. Emperor Napoleon III of France went to war with the Prussian Empire in an attempt to create a common enemy that would unify the political factions in the country. After the loss of the battle in Sedan, Napoleon III surrendered and resigned as emperor. The republicans, led by Léon Gambetta, declared a new republic, the Third Republic of France. The war continued and the Prussian army attempted to take Paris. Prussian troops surrounded the city, cutting it off from the world. During this time, Édouard Manet was serving in the National Guard. He was part of at least two (unsuccessful) attempts to break the Prussian line around the city. Berthe Morisot spent the siege in her home in Paris with her parents. Both Édouard’s and Berthe’s health declined during this time due to the lack of food, stress, and otherwise terrible conditions. Neither of them produced much art during this time.

In Part 3: “The Commune,” Smee describes the end of the siege of Paris on January 28th, 1871, and the events of the Paris Commune. A few months later, Berthe Morisot wrote to her sister to declare that she had decided to dedicate her life to her art (rather than becoming a wife and mother). Manet left the city to rejoin his wife and son elsewhere in France. Meanwhile, the political system in the nascent republic was highly unstable. The radical republicans in Paris objected to the “humiliating” terms of surrender to the Prussians, which had been negotiated by the conservative republican government led by Adolphe Thiers. 

When the national military attempted to retrieve their cannons from the National Guard of Paris, the locals revolted and held onto them. This led to an uprising and the declaration of the Paris Commune, a locally-led government independent from the national French government, which was seated in Versailles. The Versaillais attacked the Communards, killing an approximate 15,000-20,000. During this time, Berthe escaped to Saint-Germaine-en-Laye and eventually joined her sister Edma in Normandy. Berthe and Manet worried that the Communards were too radical, but they despaired at its violent repression by the French government. Many important buildings in Paris were burned during the Commune, including the Tuileries Palace and the Hôtel de Ville.

In Part 4: “The Birth of Impressionism,” Smee describes how artists responded to the events of “the Terrible Year.” Many conservative artists sought to glorify the brave French soldiers and mourn the destruction that had been wrought during the turbulence. In contrast, many of Manet’s circle, including Berthe and Édouard themselves, produced very little art in the immediate aftermath of the events. Eventually, Berthe returned to Paris, and she and Édouard rekindled their relationship. He produced a series of portraits of her, which Smee argues give an indication of their intimacy. Berthe continued to develop techniques that would come to be known as Impressionistic, such as light brushstrokes that give a sense of movement and capture the light. 

On April 15th, 1874, what would come to be known as the first Impressionist exhibition opened in Paris. Berthe showed her work but Édouard eschewed the group out of fear that his reputation would be tarnished through association with those seen as political radicals. Smee notes that none of the works directly depict or address the events of “the Terrible Year”, but that their focus on capturing the immediate and real is representative of their fatigue with conventional, idealistic art movements. Such traditional movements were closely tied to political ideologies that led to catastrophe and destruction. That same year, Berthe Morisot married Édouard’s brother, Eugène. Her daughter, Julie, was born in 1878. By 1880, Édouard’s health was beginning to fail.

The Epilogue covers the final months of Édouard and Berthe’s lives. Édouard died of gangrene caused by his syphilis medication in 1883. Berthe continued to paint and develop her style. She focused on paintings of women and children, especially her child Julie. In 1892, Eugène Manet died. In 1895, Berthe died of a chest infection. Edgar Degas and other artists came together to mount a solo exhibition of her work after her death.