This is the first in a series of four books about art and its interpretation from the mid-nineteenth century to the end of the twentieth. The authors seek to explain the most important issues confronting any study of modern art, without attempting exhaustive coverage. The books present a range of approaches characteristic of current art-historical debates. The first volume focuses on aspects of Realism, Impressionism and Post-Impressionism in Paris between about 1848 and 1900.