Friday, February 23, 2007

THE PARIS ART SCENE, CIRCA 1885

There were lots of art schools and lots of type-A art teachers. Here (above) an angry art teacher goes berserk and possibly beats the class with another student.


Paintings often had to be done on a tight schedule. Here (above) an artist puts the finishing touches on a painting as it's being delivered to the buyer.


According to Daumier one painter paints from nature while another paints from what the first painter painted.


Some painters had fancy studios...



...others painted in hovels. No heat, no bathroom. Rats.


Here (above) is Montmare which, because it was situated on a steep hill, had low rents. Lots of artists here.



Here's a Lautrec poster (above) . Is it for the Moulin Rouge? Does it say "The Queen of Joy (Life?) with Victor Jose"? What the heck is that about? Whatever the real meaning the picture, it reminds me that a number of Lautrec's other posters for that club depicted the customers rather than the stars. Sometime the posters seemed to advertize the interesting people and friendly women you'd meet there. Lautrec did a couple of paintings from the vantage point of someone walking behind adventurer-customers looking for excitement.


The Moulin Rouge Gardens. Outdoor entertainment, good food, spirits, a beautiful giant elephant...looks good to me. Why don't we have more places like this now?



14 comments:

  1. Anonymous1:21 AM

    >>an angry art teacher goes berserk and possibly beats the class with another student.<<


    HAHAHAHAHA

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  2. what do today's angry art teachers beat their class with??

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  3. The Moulin Rouge Gardens. Outdoor entertainment, good food, spirits, a beautiful giant elephant...looks good to me. Why don't we have more places like this now?

    Tore them all down. Chicago used to have a Frank Lloyd Wright beer garden. Imagine.

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  4. Sarasota, FL used to have a lively downtown - until the high rise condo cronies passed laws to outlaw anything louder than their clinking martini glasses. Myrtle Beach recently closed their downtown Pavilion - in favor of... you guessed it - more high rise condos. Its happening all over.

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  5. "Why don't we have more places like this now?"

    Sadly, too expensive and sky-high insurance premiums. : (

    This question has bothered me for years--anytime you read about the old Luna Park, or the great Venice Pier, etc.etc....I guess those places were possible due to dirt poor labor costs (in construction and for employees) and virtually no safety/building codes.

    Makes for much safer theatres and restaurants, but much, much more boring destinations. Some time ago I read about a restaurant in NY where it was all done up like--oh, I remember-I think it was called "Jeykyll and Hyde's" and was done like a victorian, dark, foreboding place...it was probably cheesy but at least they tried to be imaginative(somewhat).

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  6. Sea-A-Rama in Galveston, Texas was the best place ever, and used to be like that. When I lived there in my graffiti-soaked youth I often strolled the ruins, painting its haunted walls as I went.

    Seeing pictures of it in full swing gives me the chills.

    There are great things out there now, Eddie- it's too easy to slip into good-old-days-ism! Though I must admit I hate this vintage poster craze and I wish someone would take the hint and start promoting massive illustrated posters for everything again. Photoshop has it limits, and by limits, I mean no soul.

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  7. Anonymous5:40 PM

    The poster reads: "Queen of Joy, by Victor Joze. Available at all bookstores."

    See http://www.sdmart.org/lautrec/Reine.html for a discussion of this book.

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  8. Eric: Thanks for the translation and background info!

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  9. i often wonder the same thing about entertainment/eat/drink establishments. Even in big city places i feel like I'm getting cheated in some way. I wish going out were truly surreal experience Instead every place just seem to be some modification of Applebeez. Sometimes they have jungles, or transvestites, or movie memorabilia, but nothing REALLY fun. Maybe once every restaurants in the world is either Jekyll n Hyde, or Rain forest Cafe the public will get so bored that thre will bea public outcry for even more entertaining places to go.

    I think the rise of home-entertainment has something to do with the downfall of nightlife. No body wants to interact anymore so there's no longer any need to create stimulating environments that spark socialization.

    Eddie, I'm tellin you, if we ran the world even if we coudlnt' create world peace or feed the poor, at least the place'd be entertaining as fuck.

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  10. "The Angry Berserk Teacher."

    -We just don't get enough of them.

    I had an animation teacher from Korea that would systematically have me animate in ones. I'm happy that he did this as it prepared me for the future. Although we mostly animate in 2's for feature films (with some ones for detail) It made animating anything else seem easier. I wish there were more harsh teachers as it would drive the skill level of most artists. I hate to sound harsh but I feel it is definitely needed as it can do nothing but good.

    Just my 2 cents. Inspiring Inspirado Eddie ;)

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  11. Eddie- get over to Europe and show us your "elephant impression".

    Have you ever been to Paris? Or London? Plan a visit- you are more than welcome here- you would love it.

    Hope you are keeping Mike in check and congratulations on the most interesting Blog oot there!

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  12. Matt: I'd love to go to Europe but it won't happen anytime soon. I have a question for you: if you were going to live somewhere in Europe other than the UK, Paris or Amsterdam, where would you choose?

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  13. Barcelona Eddie- even though I've never been! I plan to go soon though. Gaudi- yum yum.

    Berlin is a wheeze too. Dark and spooky- lots of groovy looking people mooching about- femme fatales on street corners- sly nods of acknowledgement from men on bikes.

    But for you Eddie- Stockholm. The land of the 6 foot Animation groupie!!!! You would be a legend in your own lunchtime. You would be getting pencil mileage of a different kind!

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  14. Matt: 6 foot animation groupies!? I'm there! I'm surprised that you mentioned Berlin. I thought you'd mention someplace in Northern Italy. That country seems to have interesting street life and it's only a train ride away from other places of interest.

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