A collection of Valéry’s writings on the visual arts, including his book on his friend Degas and his personal recollection of Renoir

Paul Valéry spent as much of his life among painters as writers—in a house filled with the memory and works of Berthe Morisot and her friends Manet, Degas, and Renoir, and where Degas and Renoir were still familiar guests. Degas cherished Valéry as a friend and the writer was one of the few who remained faithful to the old painter through his troubled last years. This book presents the whole of Valéry’s book on Degas; essays on Manet, Morisot, Corot, and Daumier; a personal recollection of Renoir; and writings on sculpture, portraiture, and Italian painting.

The Collected Works of Paul Valéry, the first collected edition of the writer in English, features new translations, the original French on facing pages for poetic works, and editorial notes.