Hubert Robert

Book excerpt: "Celebrated for the fundamental role he played in promoting the architectural capriccio, Hubert Robert (1733-1808) combined famous monuments of antiquity and modernity in unexpected ways to create strikingly new and imaginative city scenes and landscapes. Dubbed "Robert des ruines" by the great critic and encyclopedist Denis Diderot, Robert was regarded during his era as one of France's most prominent artists. His reputation has endured, but this monographic exhibition, coorganized by the National Gallery of Art and the Musaee du Louvre, is the first to encompass his entire career and to survey his achievements as both a painter and a draftsman. Presenting a discerning selection of his works, five scholarly essays, and a biographical chronology, this volume richly illuminates Robert's outstanding accomplishments as an artist and his lasting contributions to French visual culture"--