Parisians at Leisure

This course examines how the new Parisian leisure society that developed in the second half of the 19^th century, was portrayed in the work of different artists. Although this was an exciting and energetic time, artists also reflected the darker underbelly of life.

We look at the way that ‘scenes of modernity’ are depicted through images of the new absinthe-fuelled cafe society, the nascent emancipation of women, or the rise of the bourgeoisie, with particular reference to the works of Manet, Toulouse Lautrec and the Impressionists.