JUDGEMENT OF PARIS, THE

In 1863, the French painter Ernest Meissonier was one of the most famous artists
in the world and the darling of the 'Salon' - that all important public art exh
ibition held biannually in Paris. Manet, on the other hand, was struggling in ob
scurity. Beginning with the year that Manet exhibited his ground-breaking Dejeun
er Sur L'Herbe and ending in 1974 with the first 'Impressionist' exhibition, Ros
s King plunges into Parisian life during a ten-year period full of social and po
litical ferment with his usual narrative brillliance.