When Monet falls and injures his leg, young Frederic Bazille entertains the sufferer by painting his portrait in bed; when Monet is penniless and his mistress pregnant, Bazille buys one of his paintings out of charity. But Bazille dies in the Franco-Prussian War, while Monet lives on to become a great master and to enjoy a productive and prosperous old age lasting well into the twentieth century.

This story, which stretches from the 1860s to the 1920s, is just one of a vast number of intriguing narratives that weave through this unique diary of the Impressionist movement.

From the rise of Manet as the most controversial artist of the mid-nineteenth century to the record-breaking prices achieved at auction over the last decade, the most important artistic events, exhibitions, and sales are chronicled, as are the artists' personal lives: their relationships, children, allegiances, political activities, passions, obsessions, hatreds, and quarrels.

Carefully selected extracts from the artists' private letters and diaries and from reviews and studies allow the reader to hear the actual voices and opinions of the time; the book's unique arrangement allows access to an immense data base of information on particular subjects or areas of interest. Contemporary historical events - political, economic, social, cultural - are recorded in parallel with the artistic developments.

A huge number of images of all kinds, including paintings and drawings, photographs, posters, book jackets, letters, and even caricatures, reveal the splendor of the great masterpieces and the reality of the world in which they were created. The Chronicle of Impressionism is a complete record of the artists and their times, tracing the story of Impressionism as it unfolds. This is the one indispensable guide to the movement that more than any other has shaped the path of modern painting.