On the 24th of May we travelled to Bendigo to visit this exhibition at the Art Gallery. It was advertised as containing over 170 works of art and artisan objects from the Musée Carnavalet Histoire de Paris which we have visited and enjoyed. A link to its collection is here. Lots to see, so I had very high expectations that weren’t quite delivered, but looking back I see that there was more than I thought at the time. So, well worth a visit. It’s on until the 14th of July. It starts with a big map of Paris, which unfortunately I didn’t photograph, but thereafter the galleries are arranged according to the different areas / arondissments or particular features like parks and detailed maps are provided for each. The only one I captured was this one, highlighting the Seine and it’s bridges which I’ll keep large so you can read it.
As well there are little information posters about each area like this one, also kept large for reading.
Then you have paintings of different aspects of the area being featured. This is Île de la Cité and île Saint-Louis from Pont d’Austerlitz by Stanislas Lépine, 1880. Showing Notre Dame in the distance.
Another painting by the same artist is Pont des Arts from Pont Royal, 1884.
I liked this painting of my favourite building on the banks of the river, The Quai de l’Horloge by Paul Lecomte, 1882.
The gallery / galleries devoted to parisian public gardens featured costumes from the era. This is an afternoon dress from the Doucet Parisian couture house from 1905. . It comes from the NGV rather than the Musée Carnavalet as did all the dresses on display.
This one is just described as a dress by the dressmaker Mme Franjeaux who was active in the 1890s.
This is another afternoon dress, this time from the Callot Soeurs Parisian couture house, from around 1900. An extraordinary waistline, it’s a wonder the woman wearing it could breathe.
There were paintings depicting men and women enjoying activities in the parks and gardens around Paris. These included 24 public squares created under Napoleon III, the Second Empire (1852-1870) and the upgrading of several parks and the creation of two race-courses. Thousands of trees were planted across the city. Thus giving access to an array of leisure pursuits, which included ‘plein air’ painting for many artists of the era. This is A Parisienne in the woods by Auguste-François-Marie Gorguet 1890. She’s an affluent woman in the Bois de Boulogne.
The Bois de Boulogne was formerly a royal hunting ground in the Rouvray Forest and became part of Paris’s 16th arrondissement during the Second Empire (1852-1870). At that time major upgrades and reconstruction saw the sprawling woodland remodelled to accommodate two artificial lakes and islands as well as substantial landscaping conceived in the English-style …winding paths, avenues, groves and vistas … the cost and distance covered limited access to the most affluent citizens. Here it is in winter, Ducks in the Bois de Boulogne by Émile Guillier, 1879.
Another park featured is Parc Montsouris which was created in the mid 19th century by Napoleon III who invested in green spaces to promote good health for Parisians, providing fresh air and open spaces within the dense and heavily industrial city. This park was build on a former quarry in the 14th arrondissement. This is Parc Montsouris, view toward the bandstand by Ludovic Vallée, 1900.
Another painting by the same artist is Afternoon at Parc Montsouris, 1919.
The Jardin du Luxembourg, named after the original owner of the land, the Duc du Luxembourg, is on Paris’s Left Bank. Started in the 17th century when the Palace was built by Marie de’ Medici, the current boundaries came into being during Haussmann’s rebuilding of Paris during the Second Empire (1852-1870). Here it is depicted in autumn by Auguste Leroux, 1918.
This is Place de la Concorde, seen from the Tuileries terrace by Stanislas Lépine, 1880.
Then there were a few paintings depicting horse racing. I don’t associate Paris with horse racing but it’s been enjoyed there for a long time! The first horse race held in the Bois de Boulogne was in 1651. In the 19th century Napoleon III financed construction of racecourses in Longchamp (1857) and Auteuil (1873). This is End of the race at Auteuil by Alfred Smith (who despite his name was born and died in France), 1888.
This is Longchamp races; arrival at the finish by Jean Béraud, 1886.
This painting depicts Drags Day which was held at Auteuil racecouse from 1893 until 1968. So called because of the spectacle of the arrival of affluent racegoers in four-horse buggies known as drags … which were ... paraded from the Place de Concorder along the Champs-Élysées and the Avenue du Bois leading to the Bois de Boulogne, and the Auteuil racecourse. Therefore you’d expect at least a hint of a carriage here, but it’s not to be. At the races at Auteuil (The Drags) by Léon-Georges Carré, 1907.
A small gallery contained various depictions of the Eiffel Tower but really only in the context of the Universal Exhibition held between 1855 and 1900 in Paris. The tower, a feat of engineering and an ode to technological progress, was the glory of the exhibition in 1899, attracting 32 million visitors in 6 months. It was also the highest metal structure in the world. This is a painting of it under construction, The Eiffel Tower and the Champ de Mars by Paul Delance, 1889.
It was also the highest metal structure in the world at that time. Which makes it this little miniature souvenir from the exhibition a bit ironic, but cute. It and the medal and the plate are from the 1889 exhibition and the fan and jewellery box are souvenirs from the 1900 exhibition.
There is a small note in this gallery telling us that the local Indigenous people have a connection to this Paris exhibition. Boomerangs, shields, spears, leangles, digging sticks and a woven basket made by Dja Dja Wurrung people were included in the British Colonies pavilion. These artifacts had been illegally obtained by a colonist collector from Beechworth. They were returned after Paris to the Burke Museum in Beechworth. After major research by staff from that museum and Dja Dja Wurrung people these items were returned to their home country, Djandak, and are now placed in the Bendigo ARt Gallery in the care of the Dja Wurrung people. Fascinating history.
There is a gallery devoted to Paris as a Market Town. We’re told that around 1.8 million people lived in Paris in the mid 19th century making it the most densely populated city in Europe after London. This contained some of the eye-catching decorative signs and advertisements used by shop keepers to attract customers. Like this one advertising a wine, coffee and coal merchant, 1880.
I especially liked this one, advertising, you guessed it, parapluis!
Not to mention this very elaborate pair which adorned the shop of the snail merchant Lazare Successeurs. The modern revival of snails as a gastronomic delicacy in France is attributed to a diplomatic visit by Tsar Alexander I of Russia in 1814, who is said to have enjoyed the snails cooked for him in butter and garlic. Bravo for the Tsar!
There were lots of paintings of street scenes but mostly displayed with a common information card which made it hard to work out which painting was by which artist. So here they are unacknowledged – but all very evocative of Paris, even now.
The titles of these paintings all identify a particular street.
I wasn’t familiar with any of the artists.
They were painted between 1835 and 1902.
I can attribute this one. It’s The window of a fashion boutique by Eugène Louis Gillot, 1910.
This is The Violet Perfumery, on the corner of Boulevard des Capucines and Rue Scribe by the Italian painter Giuseppe De Nittis, 1880. He was part of the Impressionist movement.
The market place gallery was the first in the exhibition. I was surprised there was not more about Montmartre which was much smaller. consisting of these well-known posters by Tououse-Lautrec; first for a performance by the singer and actor Alber Caudieux, 1893.
Familiar but still great. Also hard to photograph because behind glass. This is advertising the Eldorado cabaret, 1892.
I’m not exactly sure why this dress, another from the NGV, was included in this gallery. It’s just described as a dinner dress from the couture house of CH. Drécoll, Paris and Vienna, 1914 (which seems to me to be a bit late for the Belle Époque).
Nearby there’s a tiny gallery describing the Musée Carnavalet which was insitgated in 1866 by Baron Haussmann. I opened in 1880 in the heart of the Marais which is h=where we stayed in 2014, so was near us. It’s terrific so if you ever get to Paris do try and visit. This painting is A room in the Musée Carnavalet by Berthe Cain (if not the only woman artist in the exhibition then one of the very few), 1920. The most famous room in the Museum is Marcel Proust’s bedroom – all lined with cork because of his asthma.
There was another gallery devoted to the Champs-Élysées. Starting as usual with a map showing it’s location in the city. These maps were one of the best things about the exhibition, very decorative in the art deco style.
From 1885 the Champs-Élysées was home to tmporary pavilions for successive Universal Exhibitions. The Grand Palais and Petit Palais were built for the 1900 event. During this period the avenue, described as the most beautiful in the world was home to theatres, circuses, panoramas, skating rinks and especially cafés.This painting depicts customers at one of the most famous, originally opened in 1764, rebuilt in 1849 as a café-concert venue. It was demolished in 1929. Dinner at the Ambassadeurs by Jean Béraud, 1880.
The same artist produced Promenade along the Champs-Élysées in 1890.
Georges Stein painted Riders and carriages on the Avenue du Bois in 1900.
I’ve kept what I think was my favourite things in the exhibition until the last although it they were included in the first gallery. These were examples of the menus from the period. I found them fascinating. The dishes on offer are so familiar! There were two from 1884; both from the Café Riche Brasserie. Daily menus as you can see, this one from 5 April. I’m keeping the pictures large so you can read them.
And this one from 11 June. How little our language for meals has stayed the same. And while the groupings of things are similar their order on the menu is a little bit different which makes one wonder whether people ate them in this order. Fish coming before the entrées, meat dishes grouped around roasts (I think) and cold cuts! So interesting.
Here is one from 1898. Harder to read – such elegant type-face. Anyone for Créme Caramel or Crépes Francaise? They are all so decorative.
Here’s the Café Riche again, from 4 March 1901.
And just one more, from 13 June 1904 – only because it contains Pêches Melba!
This is just a little account of the exhibition. There was lots more. Others liked the little videos of people during the period which playing in some of the galleries, but I’m too impatient to watch them. And there are objects and documents of various interest in glass cases throughout. Apparently it is here in Victoria while the Musée Carnavalet is being refurbished so it is a unique opportunity to see these things. I concluded my visit, as usual, by buying the souvenir scarf, made of silk, very pretty.
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