Nudity, lasciviousness, sensuality, provocation, shamelessness, or obscenity. During the 19th century, eroticism takes on a new place in Western visual culture, in particular thanks to the development of reproduction such as photography, press or lithography. Result of long and meticulous research, this book reviews the major reflections carried out on the theme of nudity in the field of art history and the history of sensibilities. It studies the reception of nudity in France, based on documentary and iconographic sources renewed (little-known works, drawings and photographs, newspapers, archives, texts of laws) and allows us to better understand this history of erotic art of the nineteenth century, long perpetuated by the sole taste of description. By placing the works in their context, by comparing expressions and aesthetics, and studying visual culture of time, Claire Maingon opens up new fields of reflection, while allowing to discover unknown or forgotten artists such as Broc, Gavarni, , Dubufe, Galimard, Ranft, Eakins, alongside the big names in the history of 19th century, David, Ingres, Delacroix, Courbet, Manet, Rodin. Text in French.

In 2015, the Vendome column regained its initial splendour thanks to a long restoration campaign supported by the Vendome committee and particularly the Ritz. During the dismantling of the scaffolding, David Bordes took exceptional shots of all the column plates. Published here for the first time, these 450 photographs form a fascinating and totally new corpus: the details of the battle scenes, the military costumes, the landscapes which constitute the setting of the battle of Austerlitz allow one to discover the column as it had never been revealed. Based on the shots of David Bordes, but also on paintings, old photographs, period documents, this widely illustrated art book in exceptional format and workmanship brings the history of the column to life, its sources, its destruction, its restoration, and also describes the moving history of the daily life of the Grande Armee during the Austerlitz campaign.

This beautifully illustrated book, with over 300 colour reproductions, showcases many of the greatest masterpieces of 19th century Orientalist art. During this period, colonization, and a revolution in means of transportation allowed artists to visit countries from North Africa to the Middle East that had previously been relatively inaccessible. The patterns, colours, and light of this region influenced artists such as Delacroix, Decamps, Berche re, Bridgman, Ziem, Ge ro me, Corrodi, Dinet, Matisse, Majorelle and many others. Upon returning to Europe, these artists captured the atmosphere of these distant and exotic lands in painted scenes of daily life and wrote memoirs of their travels. Some returned to settle there, including painters like Dinet, who spent a large part of his life in Algeria, and Majorelle, known as the "painter of Marrakech." This book offers insight into the Orientalist aesthetic that inspired the movement, and lays the groundwork for a deeper understanding of these vibrant works of art. Text in English and French.