A young, naked woman lies on a bed of white sheets, apparently in deep sleep. Right behind her, her maid is sweeping or possibly changing the sheets covering her. This bedroom mini-drama plays out for the benefit of the voyeur in the foreground. He is dressed in a frock coat and has taken off his top hat, but he still holds his cane in his hand as he looks closely.
If there is a painting that reflects the concept of the male gaze, it is this painting. A Modern Olympia by Cézanne. And it’s interesting for other reasons, too. This is one of approximately 50 paintings, including other works by Degas, Monet, Morisot, Pissarro, Renoir and Sisley, that we now consider to mark the beginning of the Impressionist movement.
Rejected by the art community, these radical young artists, who preferred sparkling spontaneity over high polish, color over contrast, and modern life over traditional subjects, exhibited their works in a photographer’s studio on Boulevard des Capucines in Paris exactly 150 years ago. A tribute to this exhibition, titled Paris 1874, The Invention of ImpressionismIt has just opened at the Musée d’Orsay, a reminder of a seminal moment not only in art history but also for the French capital.
This was the beginning of the Belle Epoque. Paris had been greatly transformed by Haussman’s wide new boulevards; The Franco-Prussian war was over; and the booming economy was creating a new sense of optimism and excitement. People had more money and more free time. They went to the renovated Bois de Boulogne on sunny afternoons, to the seaside on weekends, and to cafes, concerts and the theater in the evenings. A magnificent new opera house – the Palais Garnier – was about to rise from the ashes of the old one.
Over the next 40 years, Paris became the most beautiful, dynamic and risky city in the world. The Impressionists were there to capture the atmosphere and excitement. Of course, there were tensions. Cézanne’s critique of the male gaze reminds us of the ugly side of Parisian nightlife. Brothels flourished, the Moulin Rouge and the Folies Bergères flourished. But women also began to gain new freedoms, and two of the leading Impressionist artists were Berthe Morisot, who exhibited nine paintings in the 1874 exhibition, and Mary Cassatt shortly afterwards.
What is striking today is how much the Belle Epoque aesthetic still dominates the city, from Art Nouveau architecture to the Eiffel Tower to sidewalk cafes, and how little it has been allowed to do so in the last 150 years. Only the Tour de Montparnasse and the distant La Defense skyscrapers cast a shadow on the city’s human scale.
But this is the apparent charm of Paris: the delight of everyone who wanders through its streets, squares and gardens. To me, the real fascination lies in the paintings, which not only mark the beginning of modern art but also tell the story of daily life in the Belle Epoque. And there’s never been a better time to explore the city’s astonishing artistic heritage (as long as you avoid the Olympics, which run from July 26 to August 11). Here’s our guide.
Impressionist Paris
Oresay Museum
Anniversary special exhibition, Paris 1874: The Invention of ImpressionismIt will last until July 14. But also save some time for the rest of the museum’s collection. Most Impressionist works made after 1874 and some earlier works are in the permanent collection. One of my favorites is Monet’s magnificent winter landscape. Magpie. The venue itself – the Orsay station – is also a highlight of the Belle Epoque, built for the spectacular Exposition Universelle in 1900. When booking your trip to Paris, don’t forget to also reserve a time slot; It will be a popular exhibition.
Admission: €16/£13.70 (musee-orsay.fr)
Musée de l’Orangerie
Monet’s two series of water lily paintings for the Orangerie building in the Tuileries gardens are the culmination of many studies of his gardens at Giverny. Two elliptical rooms were designed to display the works, and Monet eventually donated them to the French state as a memorial to the end of the First World War, but the museum did not open until 1927, the year after his death.
On the lower floor of the same building, there are magnificent Impressionist paintings collected by the collector Paul Guillaume, including more than 20 paintings by Renoir and several Cézanne, some of his first experiments with Impressionism, as well as works by Modigliani, Matisse and the later art collection. and several early Picasso paintings.
Admission: €12.50/£10.70 (musee-orangerie.fr)
Musee Marmottan Monet
This former hunting lodge on the edge of the Bois de Boulogne, now a grand townhouse, houses a large selection of works by Berthe Morisot, and a private gallery downstairs contains a seminal collection of paintings by Monet, donated by his son Michel. In 1966. Among these Impression, Soleil Levant (1872) – which gave its name to this movement and is now in the Musée d’Orsay exhibition – and about 20 of Monet’s late garden and water lily paintings, some examples from the Rouen Cathedral and Palace of Westminster series, and curiosities such as: 1895 Scenes from his travels to Norway in 1877, Dutch tulip fields in 1877, and a magnificent account of steam trains at Gare St Lazare from 1877. There is also an early portrait of Renoir painted in 1873.
Admission: €14/£12 (marmottan.fr)
Le Petit Palais
The Petit Palais is one of the few museums in the city that offers free admission to everyone. This is an arts and crafts museum, built for the 1900 Exposition along with the Grand Palais opposite. It contains two galleries of important paintings by the Impressionists and their contemporaries, including paintings by Cézanne. Three BathersRenoir’s Portrait of Mme Bonnières and Monet The sun sets on the Seine river in Lavacourt, 1878.
Admission: free (petitpalais.paris.fr)
Musee de Montmartre
Renoir’s former home contains a permanent collection of paintings, posters and drawings, as well as exhibitions explaining the history of the area, formerly a village on the edge of the city, as well as its connections with the Impressionists and the later artistic community. In 1912, one of Renoir’s favorite models, Suzanne Valadon, also a painter, and her son, the artist Maurice Utrillo, moved here, and the museum recreated her north-facing attic studio.
Admission €15/£12.80 (museedemontmartre.fr/en/)
Belle Epoque Evenings
Opera Garnier
Ballet dancers and scenes from theatrical life – especially the social tensions between couples in lodges – were favorite subjects of many Impressionist painters. Nothing beats a visit to the Opera Garnier to recapture the atmosphere; but book your tickets well in advance (operadeparis.fr/en).
Maxim’s
Paris’s most atmospheric restaurant is an Art Nouveau fantasy of deep reds and purples, stained glass, murals of topless fairies, floral lamps and a cabaret stage. It opened right next to the Place de la Concorde in 1893, but the current decor dates from 1900 and a Coupe Perrier Jouët quickly transports you back to the Belle Epoque. Maxim’s has reopened after restoration and offers a refreshingly short classic French menu (I recommend the thin tarte with wild mushrooms, followed by the Saint-Jacques scallops served with herbs and mashed potatoes with beurre blanc).
Main courses start from €41/£35 (maxims-de-paris.com/tr).
Le Train Bleu
Only in Paris do you go to the train station to have dinner, but only in Paris can you encounter such good food and wonderful surroundings. It opened at the Gare de Lyon in 1901, featuring padded leather banquettes, large arched windows, sparkling chandeliers, gold cornices carried by plaster angels, and ceilings and walls painted with scenes from the Alps and the south of France.
Three-course menu from €74/£63 (le-train-bleu.com/tr).
Fundamentals
Nick Trend was a guest at Le Meurice (dorchestercollection.com), which doubles from £1,528 per night including breakfast. The hotel was a favorite with British visitors to Paris in the late 19th century, and the view from rooms on the Rue de Rivoli is very similar to the view of the Tuileries Gardens shown in Monet’s third Impressionist exhibition in 1877. now at Marmottan Monet. The hotel offers a two-hour walking tour of other nearby sites where Monet painted and includes admission to the Musée de l’Orangerie to see the Water Lilies (€1,070 per person).
Eurostar (eurostar.com) offers a return from London St Pancras to Gare du Nord from £78. Book weeks or months in advance for the best prices, especially as the Olympics approach.