This monumenal still life was painted for exhibition at the fashionable Paul Rosenberg gallery in Paris. The large scale and muted colours of this work and others like it were admired by the same collectors who patronised modern architects such as Le Corbusier and furniture makers such as Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann, who adapted aspects of Cubism in their own work.
[Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York - Oil on canvas, 97.8 x 130.8 cm]
Tags: Art Paintingd Pablo Picasso
Absinthe is depicted here as a ghostly naked female figure who is stunning this modern man of the time. A waiter is watching the scene in the background. Everything indicates that the bar is closing, but the absinthe drinker does not seem to be in a hurry. As we can see from the poor drunk's face, he may not be having a great time. Absinthe is a drink that, because it causes tremendous hallucinations, will end up being banned in half of Europe.
[Slavia Cafe, Prague - Oil on canvas, 125 x 180 cm]
Tags: Art Paintings Viktor Oliva
The bicycle was a powerful symbol of modern urban life; mass production at the beginning of the twentieth century made it more affordable as a means of transport for the masses and cycling races were regularly held at a number of racetracks across Paris. Bicycles were the perfect vehicle for a new generation of painters looking for subjects that would express their experience of the modern age and Metzinger was among a number of artists who experimented with ways of capturing the motion of the bicycle on canvas.
[Sotheby’s, London - Oil on canvas, 100 x 81 cm]
Tags: Art Paintings Jean Metzinger
This work represents the height of Renoir’s engagement with Impressionism and emphasises the importance of his unique approach to capturing modern life. It belongs to a small group of oil in which Renoir focused on scenes from the busy streets of the French capital and in which he combines fluid brushstrokes with a remarkably fresh execution to conjure the energy and optimism of contemporary Paris.
[Sotheby’s, London - Oil on canvas, 51 x 62.7 cm]
Tags: Art Paintings Pierre-Auguste Renoir
[Philadelphia Museum of Art - Oil on canvas, 69.2 x 101.4 cm]
Tags: Art Paintings Giovanni Boldini