Revisiting Renoir, Manet and Degas

This work analyses the relationship between visual art and contemporary art fiction by addressing the problem of the ekphrastic re-presentation and re-interpretation of an Impressionist figure painting through its composition, selected details of the painting and allusion to specific techniques used in the process of creating the masterpiece based on the examples of the following novels: Luncheon of the Boating Party (LOTBP) by Susan Vreeland (2007), Mademoiselle Victorine (MV) by Debra Finerman (2007), With Violets (WV) by Elizabeth Robards (2008), Dancing for Degas (DFD) by Kathryn Wagner (2010) and The Painted Girls (TPG) by Cathy Marie Buchanan (2013).

Lyutsiya Staub is an ELT Consultant for Macmillan Education (part of Springer AG Publishing) in Switzerland as well as a teacher of English.

Introduction Intermediality: Narrative Texts and Visual Arts 2.1. Verbal and Visual Overstepping of Boundaries 2.1.1. Evolution of the Definition of Ekphrasis 2.1.2. The Diversity of Ekphrastic Relationships 2.2. Perception, Re-presentation and the Making of Meaning 2.3. Intermedial Interaction in Contemporary Art Fiction 2.3.1. The Communicative Category 2.3.2. The Re-presentational Category 2.3.3. The Interpretive Category Communication 3.1. Verbal Elements 3.2. Visual Elements Re-presentation 4.1. The Process of Making an Artwork: Labour 4.1.1. Inspiration for the Painting 4.2. Models and Modelling in Art-fictional Figure Paintings 4.2.1. The Boating Party 4.2.2. Opportunists, Dancers, Lovers 4.3. Selected Visual Details and Colour Interpretation 5.1. Perceived versus Intended Meaning 5.2. Paintings Viewed on Display 5.3. Revisiting Images and Looking at Collections 5.4. Art Criticism Conclusion Bibliography