An invitation to a walk through Paris: Folkwang Museum shows images of a capital

Paris between 1860 and 1900: the new Paris thrives – with its boulevards, bridges, train stations, theatres and parks, and also the industrial premises in the periphery: huge buildings constructed during the regime of Napoleon III.

The metropolis is transforming. This atmosphere of change is captured by artists like Manet, Monet, Caillebotte, or Goeneutte - all in the middle of this new age, this new attitude to life.
From October 2, 2010 until January 30, 2011, this attitude is rekindled by the Museum Folkwang in Essen - with the exhibition „Images of a capital – the impressionists in Paris“.

A walk through the city’s history

The exhibition shows the new Paris in paintings and photographs. The concept is an imaginary walk through the metropolis - you start with a panoramic view on the town from Montmartre. Then, you stroll down to the boulevards and bridges, to places and monuments, parks, and gardens. As a nice diversion, you can take various looks on the city by leaning out of the windows of apartments and studios, and enjoy wandering about the new quarters.... And on you go, to the train stations and to the river, along the quais and into the suburbs. Finally, the evening leads you back to the pulsating nightlife of the big city: to the cafés, the amusement places, the restaurants, the theatres, the opera, and the circus.

Museum Folkwang in Essen gets masterpieces from Paris

Big names from renowned houses have found their way to Essen. Altogether, the exhibition consists of 80 paintings by the most famous impressionists: Pierre August Renoir's masterpiece „Dance at the Moulin de la Galette“ (created 1876) is a loan from the Musée d'Orsay - and that museum has never given that painting to any museum outside of France so far. The painting was traded at 78,1 million US dollars in 1990 already.

Caillebotte's large-sized work „Paris street, rainy day" (1877) has travelled from the Art Institute of Chicago to Essen, and „The Railway“, painted by Manet 1873, comes from the National Gallery of Art in Washington.

Impressionism and photography go hand in hand

The photographs pick up where the impressionism ends: 125 photographs complete the impressionistic event - among them, works of Gustave Le Gray, Charles Marville, or Eugène Atget, to name a few. Their focus is on architecture, the construction areas, and streets and places.
The exhibition combination, featuring the colourful, light, upbeat atmosphere of the impressionistic moment and the contrasty, realistic, black and white photography catches the Paris of the late 19th century as no history book will ever do. "A picture paints a thousand words" - regarding this feast for the eyes, that is indeed true.

Information

Images of a capital - the impressionists in Paris

Museum Folkwang
Museumsplatz 1
45128 Essen

opening hours
October 2, 2010 until January 30, 2011
Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 20:00
Friday 10:00 to 22.30


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