A single painting, chosen for a reason, from each of two French artists of the 19th century. Émile Friant and Henri Gervex - two gifted painters mostly forgotten now, amid the glut of other French and European artists of that era, possibly sidelined too due to their more traditional mode, as new techniques and styles began to emerge everywhere at that time.
This painting, by Émile Friant (16 April 1863 – 9 June 1932) is chosen to mark the day: 1 November, All Saints' Day, in France, La Toussaint.
(Click on image for bigger version.)
This (below), by Henri Gervex (10 December 1852 – 7 June 1929) attracted me because it reminds me of a current PBS TV drama series, screened Sunday evenings. The drama titled The Paradise, an adaptation of Émile Zola's novel, Au Bonheur des Dames, relocates the story from France to a Victorian fashion store North East England. Gervex's painting portrays a fashion designer's salon rather than a fashion store, but it does have the same "feel". The painting's title Cinq Heures Chez Paquin can be translated as 5 o'clock at Paquin's Salon, though some sources have it as "5 hours at Paquin's". I suspect 5 hours' shopping would be too much for any mortal, especially wearing those voluminous gowns!
Click on it for a bigger version
Henri Gervex blotted his metaphorical copybook at one point in his career with a painting titled Rolla (1878), based on a poem by Alfred de Musset. It shows a prostitute and her client. The painting was rejected by a jury of the Salon de Paris for its immorality, but lent its painter a certain amount of notoriety in the city. See here - scroll down.
This painting, by Émile Friant (16 April 1863 – 9 June 1932) is chosen to mark the day: 1 November, All Saints' Day, in France, La Toussaint.
(Click on image for bigger version.)
 |
| La Toussaint |
This (below), by Henri Gervex (10 December 1852 – 7 June 1929) attracted me because it reminds me of a current PBS TV drama series, screened Sunday evenings. The drama titled The Paradise, an adaptation of Émile Zola's novel, Au Bonheur des Dames, relocates the story from France to a Victorian fashion store North East England. Gervex's painting portrays a fashion designer's salon rather than a fashion store, but it does have the same "feel". The painting's title Cinq Heures Chez Paquin can be translated as 5 o'clock at Paquin's Salon, though some sources have it as "5 hours at Paquin's". I suspect 5 hours' shopping would be too much for any mortal, especially wearing those voluminous gowns!
Click on it for a bigger version
 |
| Cinq Heures Chez Paquin |
Henri Gervex blotted his metaphorical copybook at one point in his career with a painting titled Rolla (1878), based on a poem by Alfred de Musset. It shows a prostitute and her client. The painting was rejected by a jury of the Salon de Paris for its immorality, but lent its painter a certain amount of notoriety in the city. See here - scroll down.
