Until the end of the 19th century Naïve Art, created by untrained artists and characterised by spontaneity and simplicity, enjoyed little recognition from professional artists and art critics. Naïve painting is often distinguished by its clarity of line, vivacity and joyful colours, as well as by its rather clean-cut, simple shapes, as represented by French artists such as Henri Rousseau, Séraphine de Senlis, André Bauchant and Camille Bombois....

Pierre-Auguste Renoir was born in Limoges on 25 February 1841. In 1854, the boy's parents took him from school and found a place for him in the Lévy brothers' workshop, where he was to learn to paint porcelain. Renoir's younger brother Edmond had this to say this about the move: "From what he drew in charcoal on the walls, they concluded that he had the ability for an artist's profession. That was how our parents came to put him to learn the trade...

Impressionism has always been one of the public's favourite styles of art and Impressionist works continue to enchant beholders with their amazing play of colours and forms. This book offers a well-chosen selection of the most impressive works of artists such as Degas, Monet, Pissarro, Renoir and Sisley. Mega Square Impressionism pays tribute to the subject's popularity.

Manet es uno de los artistas más famosos de la segunda mitad del siglo XIX, ligado por lo general a los impresionistas, aunque en realidad no era uno de ellos. Tuvo gran influencia en la pintura francesa, en parte por la elección de sus temas, que sacaba de la vida cotidiana, pero también por el uso de los colores puros y por su técnica rápida y libre. En su propia obra se materializó la transición entre el realismo de Courbet y los impresionistas. Nació...

Para Claude Monet, el que se le considerara "impresionista" fue siempre un motivo de orgullo. A pesar de todas las críticas que se han hecho a su trabajo, siguió siendo un verdadero impresionista hasta el final de su muy larga vida. Lo era por convicción profunda y, por el impresionismo, pudo haber sacrificado muchas otras oportunidades que su inmenso talento le ofrecía. Monet no pintaba composiciones clásicas con figuras y nunca fue retratista,...

Since his death 100 years ago, Cézanne has become the most famous painter of the nineteenth century. He was born in Aix-en-Provence in 1839 and the happiest period of his life was his early youth in Provence, in company with Emile Zolá, another Italian. Following Zolá's example, Cézanne went to Paris in his twenty-first year. During the Franco-Prussian war he deserted the military, dividing his time between open-air painting and the studio. He...