Illuminated Paris : essays on art and lighting in the belle époque / Hollis Clayson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Clayson, Hollis, 1946- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Lighting, Architectural and decorative, in art.

Art, Modern--19th century.

Art, Modern.

Paris (France)--In art.

Paris (France).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (239 pages)

Place of Publication:

Chicago ; London : The University of Chicago Press, [2019]

Summary:

The City of Light. For many, these four words instantly conjure late nineteenth-century Paris and the garish colors of Toulouse-Lautrec’s iconic posters. More recently, the Eiffel Tower’s nightly show of sparkling electric lights has come to exemplify our fantasies of Parisian nightlife. Though we reflect longingly on such scenes, in Illuminated Paris, Hollis Clayson shows that there’s more to these clichés than meets the eye. In this richly illustrated book, she traces the dramatic evolution of lighting in Paris and how artists responded to the shifting visual and cultural scenes that resulted from these technologies. While older gas lighting produced a haze of orange, new electric lighting was hardly an improvement: the glare of experimental arc lights—themselves dangerous—left figures looking pale and ghoulish. As Clayson shows, artists’ representations of these new colors and shapes reveal turn-of-the-century concerns about modernization as electric lighting came to represent the harsh glare of rapidly accelerating social change. At the same time, in part thanks to American artists visiting the city, these works of art also produced our enduring romantic view of Parisian glamour and its Belle Époque.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction. Paris, City of Éclairage

1. Cherchez la lampe

2. Losing the Moon

3. Bright Lights, Brilliant Wit

4. Night Lights on Paper

5. Outsider Nocturnes

6. Man at the Window

Conclusion. Art Fueled by Lights

Notes

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780226594057

022659405X

OCLC:

1229161412