Category Archives: Paris art

The Emperor, the cabaret of women, an ill-advised gift, and the porcelain painter

Opinion is divided as to whether Napoleon Bonaparte was a tyrant or a genius, or both. But perhaps we can all agree that he left something to be desired as a husband. His divorce from his beloved Josephine de Beauharnais … Continue reading

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Eclairage Chauffage: Helen McNicoll and the painting of light

This image of a market in Brittany was painted by Helen McNicoll in 1910. The sign “Eclairage Chauffage” on the building in the background seems appropriate, since the sun is beaming down and you can almost feel its warmth. McNicoll … Continue reading

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Edward Hopper in Paris

Norman and I were browsing in a second-hand bookshop recently, when I came across a book about the American artist Edward Hopper that included this illustration: The caption read, “Stairway at 48, rue de Lille, Paris, 1906.” I shouldn’t have … Continue reading

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Passage St-Pierre

We found this 1913 etching of the Passage St-Pierre by Caroline Armington in the Earls Court Gallery in Hamilton, Ontario, on St. Patrick’s Day in March. If you look up “Passage St-Pierre” in the index of a modern map of … Continue reading

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Nostalgic images of a vanishing city

Photographs of Paris in the snow were big news earlier this month. We are Canadians. As Gilles Vigneault sang of this country, “Mon pays ce n’est pas un pays, c’est l’hiver” (My country is not a country, it is winter). … Continue reading

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Starry starry night

I am writing this on Sunday, December 24, and all I can think about is Vincent Van Gogh. Until recently, I had not realized that he’d cut off his ear on December 23 (which in 1888 was also a Sunday), … Continue reading

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Footsteps and Sidetracks

I sometimes think that if I had it all to do over again, I would become a biographer. I’ve no interest in writing fiction when real life is so fascinating. Even in my day-job as a researcher, I love tracking … Continue reading

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A ghost at the Paris Salon

On a recent visit to the Art Gallery of Hamilton, Norman and I wandered into a room that was hung with paintings in the old-fashioned way, covering the walls, much as paintings were once hung at the Paris Salon, although … Continue reading

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Voutch and the evolution of a cartoon style

You know how it is: you notice something properly for the first time, and for the next while, you see it everywhere. So it was with us and the cartoons of Voutch (real name: Olivier Chapougnot). We had wandered along the … Continue reading

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Learning to see: Emily Carr in France

She arrived in Paris with her trunks, her sister Alice, and a malevolent grey parrot called Rebecca. She had purchased Rebecca in Liverpool, where the ship from Canada had docked, and brought the disagreeable bird the rest of the way by … Continue reading

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