Bendigo Art Gallery, Central Victoria, Australia: Paris Exhibition
We are very lucky that Rowdy Wylie and his partner Suzanne Benson were able to attend the exhibition and can report back first hand and share with us some of the paintings from probably the most famous and popular of all the styles and periods of art.
Rowdy has selected the paintings from the exhibition which he enjoyed the most starting with his favourite The Quat-z' Arts cabaret ball by Louis Abel-Truchet (1857-1918) as shown below.
Rowdy explains: I just love the amazing colours.. the intensity of the composition with all the “alive - action”… the “celebration”… & the “rabbling” of the party goers… The composition almost transmits the loud “amplified” party, joyous sounds of music & celebrational voices singing & laughing…. What an “era” it must have been!!!... A true “master piece” of works!!!
Next we have chosen to show you Riders and carriages on the Avenue du Bois painted about 1900s by Georges Stein (1864-1917). As the painting description explains Georges Stein was known for his vivid representations of Parisian streets illuminated in bright sunshine by day and lit by lamps and moonlight at night.
Of course, there is nothing more French than a scene of the Eiffel Tower and Rowdy has selected to show us first the Eiffel Tower and the Champs de Mars by Paul Delance (1848-1924) which is a very interesting painting as the style is quite different to the Impressionist paintings from this era.
Paul-Louis Delance (1848–1924)was a French painter and educator. He is known for his allegorical and genre scene paintings early in his career, and his religious, and landscape paintings later in his career.2
In contrast The entrance to the 1889 Universal Exhibition by Jean Beraud (below) follows the French Impressionism style.
In fact the paintings by Jean Beraud particularly caught Rowdy's attention especially his theatre paintings - as we see below in La Baignoire at the Theatre des Varietes.
And as any theatre goer knows - the gathering at the front of theatre for a drink and chat is often the best part of the show!! Beraud has captured this occasion beautifully in Boulevard Montmartre, in front of the Theatre des Varietes, at night.
We will conclude today with another theatre painting - illustrating the annoyance with The latecomers! Albert Guillaume's painting is a charming and satirical depiction of Parisian high society in the late 19th century.
The painting captures a moment of mild chaos in a theater lobby as a group of elegantly dressed patrons, running late, hastily remove their coats and hats to avoid further disrupting the ongoing performance. Guillaume, renowned for his keen eye and humor, uses vivid expressions and meticulous detail to highlight the social etiquette and fashionable attire of the time. The figures’ hurried movements contrast comically with the composed audience members already seated inside, underscoring themes of punctuality, decorum, and the social pressures of public appearances in the Belle Époque.3
Credits
1. Desciptions of paintings from the Paris Impressions of Life 1880-1925 exhibition, Bendigo Art Gallery.
2. en.wikipedia.org
3. With thanks to ChatGPT under instructions from Anne Newman