Anne Vallayer-Coster (1744-1818) was one of the most talented still-life painters of the French school. Her exquisite paintings, today located in some of the world's finest museums, were admired and collected by many of her contemporaries, including Marie Antoinette, who became the artist's most important patron. This lavishly illustrated book, the first devoted to Vallayer-Coster in over 30 years, presents a stunning array of the artist's still-life works, many of which have never before been reproduced in color. Recently rediscovered works, including three royal portraits from the collection of Versailles and a hitherto unknown pastel of Marie Antoinette, are published here for the first time. The authors draw on the most current research to examine Vallayer-Coster's relationship with landscape painter Joseph Vernet; her response to her immediate predecessor, still-life painter Jean-Siméon Chardin; her role with contemporary collectors of her art; and her place in the larger context of the eighteenth-century art world. The book also includes new archival and conservation findings and an illustrated index of extant paintings by Vallayer-Coster. This catalog of the first exhibition devoted to painter Anne Vallayer-Coster (1744-1818) includes 175 color and 50 black-and-white reproductions as well as essays by scholars concerning various aspects of her work. As one of the three women artists admitted to the French Academy in the 18th century, Vallayer-Coster was best known for her still-life and flower paintings. A number of these works were engraved, and others formed the basis for floral decorations on porcelain and tapestries of the period. As demonstrated by Kahng (curator, Walters Art Museum, Baltimore), Vallayer-Coster's still lifes provoke comparisons with Chardin but maintain a vibrancy and charm of their own. Scholar Colin B. Bailey discusses Vallayer-Coster's popularity among 18th-century collectors, including Marie-Antoinette herself, and an excellent essay by Melissa Hyde chronicles women's involvement in the 18th-century world of art and letters through art making, patronage, and writing. This volume, the only recent title devoted solely to this artist, has lovely illustrations and thorough documentation. Recommended for all academic and museum libraries. [The exhibition will travel from Washington, DC, to Dallas, New York City, and France.-Ed.]-Sandra Rothenberg, Framingham State Coll. Lib., M. --Sandra Rothenberg, Framingham State Coll. Lib., MA Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. This gorgeous volume accompanies the first comprehensive exhibition of Vallayer- Coster's paintings. Organized by the Dallas Museum of Art, the show is on view at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., from June 30 to September 25, 2002; then travels to the Dallas Museum of Art from October 13, 2002 to January 5, 2003; the Frick Collection in New York City from January 21 to March 23, 2003; and the Musée des Beaux Arts in Nancy, France, from April 10 to June 23, 2003. Published in association with the Dallas Museum of Art Eik Kahng is associate curator of 18th- and 19th-century European art at the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. Marianne Roland Michel is a leading expert of 18th-century French painting and author of the 1970 monograph on Vallayer-Coster. Contributors to the book are Colin Bailey, Laurent Hugues, Melissa Hyde, and Claire Barry