@The Library

From the Commune to the Dreyfus Affair
French art and the Third Republic from Caillebotte to Toulouse-Lautrec

The defeat of France in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870, the siege of Paris by the German army, followed the next year by the revolution of the Paris Commune and its bloody repression by government troops are some of the greatest traumas of modern French history.

The regime that emerged after these events in the 1870’s is the French Third Republic. Reconstruction, the rebirth of national pride and revenge against the new German Empire became the policies of the initially shaky regime in the next four decades. The birth of the Third Republic also coincides with the emergence of a new French art movement in the 1870’s that of Impressionism.

In our lecture we'll explore how the political context of the period is reflected in the new art and how French artists like Caillebotte and Monet illustrate the themes of reconstruction and industrial progress promoted by the Republic. The new Republican society and its dominant classes, the bourgeoisie and the urban working class are also important themes in the paintings of Renoir and Seurat. Cynicism and corruption affect the art of the “Belle Epoque” notably that of Toulouse-Lautrec, Steinlen, Forain and the modern artists after 1900: Picasso, Rouault, Vlaminck.

Uncover the political and social contexts of the late 19th century and view the art of that period from a different angle. Join Chris Boïcos, founder of Paris Art Studies, art history professor at the University of Delaware and the University of Southern California in Paris, for this lecture and slide show.