Monet, Narcissus, and Self-Reflection

The Modernist Myth of the Self

Paper $58.00 ISBN: 9780226475448 Published February 1995

Cloth $143.00 ISBN: 9780226475431 Published March 1995

Steven Z. Levine provides a new understanding of the life and work of Claude Monet and the myth of the modern artist. Levine analyzes the extensive critical reception of Monet and the artist’s own prolific writings in the context of the story of Narcissus, popular in late nineteenth-century France. Through a careful blending of psychoanalytical theory and historical study, Levine identifies narcissism and obsession as driving forces in Monet’s art and demonstrates how we derive meaning from the accumulated verbal responses to an artist’s work.