Existing comment:
Modern Paris:
The paintings in this gallery respond to the radical urban renewal project that transformed Paris in the 1850s and 1860s. An old, essentially medieval city of narrow cobblestone alleys became and modern metropolis, with the open parks and grand boulevards lined by uniform limestone facades that define the look of Paris to this day. Manet, the consummate observer of these new city spaces, expressed ambivalence: attraction to glossy fashion and urbanity but also a sense of disorientation and dislocation, even loneliness. With a bright palette and flickering touch, Renoir and Pissarro painted cityscapes that celebrate the fresh views, open-air, and sunlight of the modern capital, and the brisk, energetic movement of its citizens. |