ARTHI 6C Lecture 3: Section 3 A New Visual Environment in 19th Century Paris
Objectives
Hausmannization of Paris 1853-1870
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Relation of space, vision, and power
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MIDTERM NEXT WEEK!!!!! (Section next week will be an exam review)
15 questions
Multiple choice
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Fill in the blank
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5 slide-based questions
Shown an image (don’t need to know titles or dates)
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See a painting and there will be a question about the painting
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1-3 sentences
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2 short answer questions
Paragraph answers
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BRING BLUE BOOKS, no scantron needed
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Hausmann designed the boulevard of Champs Elysees in Paris
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Looking at how public space can be used
Hausmann's main goal for Paris was to make it easy for military to
mobilize through the streets
Wide boulevards
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Allows for mobilization of state power
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Open spaces and lack of crowding
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Space for protests
Individuals displaying their power for the state
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Before Hausmann came along, Paris was very medieval in terms of its layout
and technology
It was a very crowded, dirty, and industrial city
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There was no aesthetically pleasing or orderly pattern to the architecture
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Less infrastructure
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Darkness and illness characterized Paris at this time
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Lack of order led to civil disobedience
Spaces were difficult to control and seen as dangerous
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Threatening to the French state
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Construction of barricades
People built barricades made out of random stuff to block off the
narrow streets
Made out of wagon wheels, cobblestones/paving stones,
furniture, etc.
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Defense and resistance against the government□
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Barricades have a long Parisian history
1648 - Fronde civil war□
1795 - hunger riots□
1831/34 - Proletarian riots□
1848 - February revolution□
1871 - Paris Commune□
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A way for governments to display power
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Hausmannization 1853-1870
Given permission by Napoleon III to urbanize the city of Paris
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Baron Eugene Hausmann was given the authority to reshape the city
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350,000 people were displaced from demolished neighborhoods
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Installation of a centralized sewage system
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Created the wide open spaces of boulevards, squares, and parks
Bringing green space into the urban environment
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Installed street lighting and gas lamps
The beginnings of electricity as we know it to be today
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Light began to represent a lot of things (i.e. power in spaces where
the government is prominent)
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Better mobility for military through the city
Making it easy for the military to stop local rebellions
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COMPARE: Left: medieval Paris streets pre-Hausmann vs. Right: Gustave
Caillebotte, Paris Street, Rainy Day 1877
Caillebotte's painting is bright and open
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Medieval Paris was dense, dark, and closely packed
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Presence of people in Caillebotte's painting is significantly higher than the
photo of medieval Paris
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Caillebotte's painting depicts Paris as much cleaner than it was in
medieval Paris
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Both images depict corners in Paris
Straight line of sight
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Visibility of boulevards in medieval Paris was very limited
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Perspective in Caillebotte's painting it a street-view
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Charles Garnier - Paris opera 1875 and Mary Cassatt, In the Lodge 1878
Idea of looking and being looked at
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Woman at the opera alone which was very unusual
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She is looking at the stage which is probably in the leftmost division, while
everyone is looking at her
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Class division -- only middle and upper class people went to the opera
The Paris Opera was a places where these classes could mix
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The opera was very intense and grand, as seen in the lobby
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The opera was a place to be seen and shown off
The function of vision within space
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Camille Pissarro, Boulevard Montmartre at Night 1897
Impressionist painting
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Loose brushstrokes seen from up close
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Lots of white usage, very reflective and illuminating (almost as if it is
raining)
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Nighttime scene with very bright lights
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Not detailed in the depiction of figures participating in nightlife
Basically dabs of paint as brush strokes
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Montmartre was a working/middle class area full of prostitution, bars,
and nightclubs
Only a place where people could go to let loose and party
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Very lively
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Section 3: A New Visual Environment in 19th
Century Paris
Thursday, April 26, 2018
9:00 AM
Document Summary
Section 3: a new visual environment in 19th. Midterm next week!!!!! (section next week will be an exam review) Shown an image (don"t need to know titles or dates) See a painting and there will be a question about the painting. Hausmann designed the boulevard of champs elysees in paris. Looking at how public space can be used. Hausmann"s main goal for paris was to make it easy for military to mobilize through the streets. Before hausmann came along, paris was very medieval in terms of its layout and technology. It was a very crowded, dirty, and industrial city. There was no aesthetically pleasing or orderly pattern to the architecture. Darkness and illness characterized paris at this time. Spaces were difficult to control and seen as dangerous. People built barricades made out of random stuff to block off the narrow streets. Made out of wagon wheels, cobblestones/paving stones, furniture, etc.
